Days of Atlantis
by soulofair
Summary: Donna goes missing, and the Doctor goes looking for her, and finds much more than he expected. Occurs after JE, disregards EoT and most of what comes in S5, S6, and probably S7 too, so we'll consider this very much an AU kind of thing. Features Doctors 10 and 11, OC, and a few other familiar faces. Cross-posted at my LJ-same username. I do not own Doctor Who or the characters
1. Days Before Atlantis: Part 1

She was walking through the park with the pigeons flying about a fixed point that no one could figure. All of a sudden, a blue police box appeared out of nowhere, making the pigeons fly away with no seconds to spare. People tried to assure themselves that they were just seeing things, but the woman knew exactly what it was.

She was of medium height, with chocolate brown skin. Her hair was thrown back into a bun and she wore a black coat over black pants and a black blouse. The whole look looked of someone who wanted to hide but wanted to be seen at the same time. She looked down at her boots, her heeled boots, and then back at the blue police box across the way with a look of determination. With no further thought, she broke out into a mad sprint across the green and made her way to the path where the box had landed.

"Is it you?" she asked of the box.

A man walked around the side and tucked his hands neatly into the pockets. "Aye, well, yeah, I suppose. How ye' been, Martha?" the man asked of her.

Martha took a look at the man, the man whom she had known for many years. He was tall, skinny, and wore a trench coat that must have been longer than she was tall. His suit was tidy; the black striped one with the white shirt and black tie underneath. It looked new. His sneakers, however, were dirty, but neatly tied up and out of the way. When Martha's gaze reached the man's face, she smiled. "As always, Doctor," she smiled in reply.

"Ah! Well, good then," he chirped in his nonchalant ways.

The man, the Doctor, walked around Martha to get to the pathway that went throughout the park. "Why are you here, Doctor? It's been years since I've seen you."

"Years?" he asked in surprise.

He took a look around the park, realizing that the place seemed too modern for his recollection of Earth. He then examined the woman who walked with him. She looked years older, perhaps even decades. The young twenty five year old woman he had left behind only two weeks previous now looked to be at least fifty. She wore her age well, any person passing her on the street might say she was in her late thirties, but as a Time Lord, the changes that time brought about were more obvious than to humans.

"It's been nearly twenty five years since we ran into each other like this, Doctor," she replied simply.

"Well…" he murmured to himself.

He took a look around the park they were walking through, taking note that the birds were unusually quiet at this time of day, during the start of spring. The people roamed around the park oblivious to this fact, because what they didn't need to know didn't warrant taking note of it. The only thought that ran through the Doctor's mind was the one that asked why he was there. What was so special about this day, this week, this month, this season, this year, this decade, this place, this everything… that would bring him to this exact point in time, skipping over two and a half decades?

He made no mention of his questioning to Martha; he wanted to spare her the questioning that he now was consumed in. They continued to walk, as Martha recounted the last two and a half decades as the Doctor tried to remember the last two and a half days. He had seen twenty different places and times in those last two days, whereas Martha had married, had children, was about to become a grandmother, and had seen the world remain in good spirits and out of harm's way these last two and a half decades.

They walked for another few minutes, idly chatting about life and travelling. Martha had seen the world again with her husband and children, this time, properly seeing all the touristy spots and all the people instead of the emptiness that the Year That Never Was had brought about. "Doctor?" Martha asked suddenly as she realized he wasn't listening.

"Hum…?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Something about Paraguay?" he suggested hopefully.

"No… definitely not. I was talking about Donna."

He sighed and looked at his feet, his stomach flipped from hearing her name again. "Donna…" he said simply.

"She's gone missing."


	2. Days Before Atlantis: Part 2

He jerked his head over to look at Martha. "Missing? She's gone missing?"

"She's been gone for a year and a half. No one knows where she is. The entire Torchwood team has been looking for her, but you can only do so much with the technology they've developed. Jack came back to Earth and thinks that she might have been killed by someone who knows about her. I don't think that's the case though."

"Killed? Who would have killed her?"

"Doctor, it's not an unlikely possibility."

"Nor is it a likely possibility. I've locked all those memories so that no one could ever trace them," he replied, his fear showing through his voice. "But, what do you think happened?"

"There was some funny business with some Huon particles about seven years ago. Emily tried to figure out what happened, but you know, she can only do so much with the skills set basis she has. It's clear that you haven't taught her everything you could possibly teach her."

"Who is Emily?" he asked. "And why would I have taught her anything?"

Martha froze, her face full of instant regret. "Oh…" she sighed heavily. "You haven't gotten there yet, I'm assuming."

"What haven't I gotten to?" he demanded.

"Emily."

"Right… who is she?"

"She's… your… daughter," Martha finally spat out after reluctance to do so.

"No, Martha, that's Jenny. And, don't make me tell you what happened again."

"I remember Jenny, and Emily is most certainly not Jenny. She's… I suppose, a proper daughter, one that you've, or will have, raised from the second she was born. As a baby, to an adult."

"And Jenny wasn't a proper daughter?" the Doctor asked in interest.

"I didn't mean for it to sound that way," Martha murmured. "I hope you understand what I meant by that. Emily has been in your life ever since she was a newborn. Jenny was already an adult physiologically when we met her."

"Can we stop talking about Jenny," the Doctor asked quietly. "Let's just focus on Donna."

"Right. Well, Emily has been trying to figure out what happened to Donna. She's been doing almost everything she can possibly do to find Donna. She really shouldn't, due to her current condition, but she's exactly like you, stubborn and determined to do it in the way that you each see fit."

"Current condition?"

"She's expecting."

The Doctor's eyes widened, at the knowledge that not only had he another daughter, but he was to be a grandfather again. "You said that I hadn't been to Earth in twenty five years, and yet, I have a daughter on Earth. How does that work? Did her mother raise her?"

"No, no… I meant I haven't really seen you with the TARDIS in twenty five years. I've only seen you a few times, but just in passing or in coffee shops for brief moments. You've been to Earth plenty of times in the last two and a half decades. You raised Emily primarily here on Earth, just travelling to different countries as you felt necessary."

"Did she like that?" he asked, in vain efforts to feed his unavoidable curiosity.

"You two had your spats about it on a number of occasions, from what Emily has told me," Martha said gently, with a smile. "She's brilliant. You'll like her."

"I can't meet her."

"Why not?" Martha asked in interest.

"Spoilers?" he half stated, half asked, hopeful that this would be an effective deterrent from the real matter at hand.

"River Song?" Martha asked, missing the point, but taking the bait that he had laid out for her.

"How do you know about her?"

"I've met her. She was absolutely brilliant. Oh, and Jack found her journal. He got a good amount of fun out of that."

Instantly, the Doctor thought of River Song and his daughter. He imagined that Emily would have River's curly brown hair and his eyes. She would be long and lanky, like him, but have River's intuition and personality. That would make the most sense. Why else would have River known his name? It must have been because they married and had a child. It made perfect sense now, what River was to him.

"Where is Emily now?" he asked hesitantly.

"She works at Torchwood. Jack watches after her properly, just as you wanted."

"Why would Jack watch after her?"

"Oh… you're going to love this bit."

"Martha…"

"You're his father-in-law."

"My daughter married Jack?"

"It makes perfect sense!"

"Jack married my daughter?"

"He lives on, she regenerates. It is actually a perfect match."

"Jack. Married. My. Daughter?"

Martha sighed impatiently. "Yes, Doctor. Emily married Jack. You fail to see the point. He will live for ages, and she'll live for millenniums. They are very happy."

"Martha, why would I let Jack marry my daughter? What happened to me that made me so lenient with him?"

"It didn't have anything to do with you. Emily made it very clear that this was how it was going to be, and you would just have to deal with it."

"Sounds like she is my kid," he laughed, still wondering what could have possibly made him okay with Jack marrying Emily, this daughter that he had yet to meet.


	3. Days Before Atlantis: Part 3

They continued walking through the park until the Doctor realized that they weren't in London, but rather, Cardiff. "We are going to Torchwood, aren't we? Is that why I'm here?" he asked Martha.

"Well, we are going in the direction of Torchwood, but I doubt that that is the reason why you're here. We didn't call you, if that's what you're implying. The cell phone I gave you is obsolete technology nowadays, so it's nearly impossible to call you on it. If you didn't come here on your own terms, the TARDIS must want you to be here for something."

He pulled the phone out of his pocket and wagged at Martha. "Really? This cell phone? Obsolete?"

She took it from his hand and examined it. "This was the technology of almost three decades ago. It's obsolete, I promise."

She handed it back to him; pushing it away as if it were soiled and she wanted nothing to do with the matter. "Well, I think I'll keep it anyway. My personal timeline is twenty five years behind yours, and back when I'm from, it's hardly obsolete and I make good use of it," he said as he pocketed the phone again.

Within another ten minutes of rather conversation-less walking, they reached Torchwood. Butterflies attacked the Doctor's insides, as he wondered what his daughter would be like. He wondered if she'd be happy to see him, angry that he was there, or completely emotionless to his arrival. He wanted to give Jack a piece of his mind, telling him exactly what he thought about this. He mostly wanted to learn more about his future, in twenty-five years time, what his life looked like.

They walked into the hub, met by a few hellos from people who the Doctor did not recognize. He did, however, recognize Jack from his voice down the cement hallway. He was talking to another male, the Doctor determined, but he didn't get far enough to see Jack. "Dad? Dad, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" a voice called out.

An averagely built, moderately tall, redheaded woman walked over to him with alertness that he hadn't witnessed before. "Dad?" the woman asked again, staring at him with eyes full of attention.

"Emily?" he asked in surprise. She was not the curly-haired brunette that he had made her out to be, but she certainly had his eyes.

"Dad, why are you here? Is something wrong?"

"Emmy, what's going on?" Jack asked as he walked over and stopped up short when he saw the Doctor. "Doctor, I should have known you'd be stopping by at some point."

"Dad… please answer me," Emily pleaded, this time, sounding scared more than anything.

Martha walked over to Emily and placed her hand on her shoulder. "He doesn't know who you are."

"Oh my god… did he have a stroke? Did he have a bout of amnesia?" Emily asked, spinning around to face Martha, nearly in hysterics.

Jack shook his head slightly as he examined the Doctor. "He's not in the right year."

Emily jerked her head to look at her husband. "Not in the right year?"

"He hasn't met you yet," Martha told Emily. "Twenty five years too early."

The Doctor had checked out of this conversation well before now. He was busy examining his surroundings, trying to figure out why he was here. "Is the Rift reopening?"

Jack looked at the Doctor as if he were a madman. "You're meeting your daughter for the first time, and you're concerned about the Rift?"

"I don't know why I'm here. I'm just trying to figure it out."

"The Rift has been quiet for the most part. A few creatures now and then, but we've been fairly idle these last few years. It gives us time to focus on… other things," Jack explained, glancing over at Emily's swollen bump without even attempting to be covert about it.

"But," the Doctor said as he went over to a computer panel and began to examine the numbers on the screen, "there has to be a reason why the TARDIS brought me here."


	4. Days Before Atlantis: Part 4

Emily walked over to her father and looked at him with a crazed look. "I'm pretty sure you're missing a pretty big reason why the TARDIS brought you here."

He glanced over at her and immediately felt bad about not knowing who this person was, and yet, she knew everything about him. He knew that he should know everything about this woman, but he didn't. "I'm sorry," he said, without knowing why.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked him before taking the computer screen from his grasp.

She started to type in a series of long chains of letters and numbers, codes that unlocked the computer and opened up a file. Emily pointed at a block of letters and numbers which, at first glance, appeared to be some sort of a genetic code. "That," she explained, "is probably the likeliest reason why you are here."

"What is it?"

"A note that Marissa Temple brought to me soon after Donna disappeared," Emily stated before pausing. "You do know who Donna is, right?"

"Donna Noble? Of course I know who she is."

"Right then. Well, the TARDIS probably brought you here to help us find her. She's been missing for over a year, and I'm scared that she's been killed or something."

"I don't think she's dead," Martha piped in from across the room.

"Well, what else could have happened to her?" Jack asked.

"I don't know… alien abduction?"

"Oh now, you two, that's just juvenile," Emily scoffed. "It's much likelier that there's something out there that got past Torchwood and got to Mum."

"Mum?" the Doctor echoed. "You mean Donna?"

Jack walked over to the Doctor and Emily. "I've got it, you go rest."

"Jack, I'm fine," she sighed.

"You're exhausted. Forget bags under your eyes, you've got suitcases."

"Oh, is that how you charm them all? Insults?"

"Emmy, come on, please go rest. You've got two weeks, and you're going to need all the energy you've got for that."

"Jack, I'm fine," she growled.

Jack sighed and stepped back, rolling his eyes behind Emily's back so that the Doctor would see his exasperation. "The code, it's definitely a code of some sort, was left by Donna. Donna left this behind for Emily, and she's starting to get the code cracked. Some of it is Gallifreyan, so we'll need your translation of it. Emmy's not quite fluent yet."

He took the computer screen from Emily, who sat down in the chair behind her, resting her arm over her bump, patting it occasionally. Jack took her place beside the Doctor and started to point out what needed to be translated. Eventually, the two men had it worked out. "Appares Acwin!" the Doctor shouted abruptly as he read the message. "Appares Acwin! Oi… I should have known that was it!"

"What?" Emily asked, struggling to get to her feet.

Jack grabbed her hand and helped her up. "Thanks," she murmured to him before standing next to the screen. "Appares Acwin… why would she be there?"

The Doctor turned to look at Emily with a look of intrigue. "Well, that's what we're about to figure out."

"Appares Acwin? What's that?" Martha asked.

Emily turned around. "The Lost City of Atlantis was established by these people. Brilliant architects, even established their own form of physics that contradicts everything that Earth physics proves. It's probably why their colony here on Earth failed… their rules didn't adapt well with ours."

"Neutralized their efforts," the Doctor interjected.

"Their planet is an inversion of Earth. Everything on Appares Acwin is inverted. All the rules of physics, science, temperatures, customs, everything. But why would they have her…" Emily asked as she strode around to a different block of computers.

Jack followed her to a computer next to hers, typing in a series of codes to unlock a different program. The Doctor watched in interest as these two people worked in perfect tandem. Jack might have been a playboy before, but now, he was softened by a redhead with curly hair and brown eyes. He was softened by the true Doctor Donna.

"Was Donna…" the Doctor asked in realization.

"Was Donna what?" Jack asked.

"Is Donna your mother?" the Doctor asked Emily.

Emily pulled her hair over her shoulder as she turned to look at the Doctor. She nodded. "Mum's been gone, without more than a scrap of a paper. Might as well have just jumped off of the London Bridge. Would've had more answers that way."

Emily shuddered with a breath and Jack put his hand on her back. "It's okay," he murmured to her. "We'll get answers."

"Dad, where is Appares Acwin? What galaxy? I can't seem to find it any of my maps, and you made me draw out thousands of them, labeling them all meticulously to your liking. I thought it was in the Calgrin System, but it wasn't there. I've heard of Appares Acwin… the whole Atlantis bit, but I can't find a planet that's hiding."

Emily now faced the Doctor face on. She was beautiful. She had a nose that was long and narrow, the tip popping up like a little ski jump. Her eyes were big and brown, just as the Doctor's, but a touch of blue streaked through the upper halves of each iris. She and Donna had the same physical make, except, if Emily were not expecting a child, she'd be as much of a streak of nothing as the Doctor. She was pale, a pale rosy color without many freckles. She had a light gray strand of ivy tattooed around her right wrist. Around her neck, she wore a Gallifreyan amulet that matched the etching on the Doctor's fob watch.

He walked towards her and sat down. "Appares Acwin…" he said to himself. "Definitely not in the Calgrin System, but it's something like that."

"Chagrin System?" Jack suggested.

"No, the planets Parma and Cabotte are in that system. Nothing extraordinary out in those bits. Lots of rocks and trees, but that's about it. Lovely to go camping in, but we're not talking about camping."

Emily yelped, and everyone jumped in response. "What?" Jack asked. "Is the baby coming?"

"No, you ditherspaz, I've just remembered. It's in the Cappares Cascade. You see, I never finished that map," she said as she strode over to another computer. "I went off to university and, well, all things Time Lord went to hell. At any rate, Appares Acwin is in the Cappares Cascade. Which, if I remember correctly, is about two light years out of Midnight, which is about fifty light years off of Felspoon, which is another three hundred years off of Neptune. From there, it's only the distance between Neptune and Earth. All in all, it's roughly three hundred and sixty light years out of here, if my rough approximates are accurate."

She then turned to the Doctor with a cheeky grin. "It'll take about ten minutes."


	5. Days Before Atlantis: Part 5

Jack and Martha turned to look at the Doctor to see his response. "Ten minutes? How is that… oh."

"The TARDIS."

"Right. I got that."

"Shall we leave tomorrow?" Emily asked as she turned back to the computer and finished typing things in.

As she turned around, her hair swooped across her shoulder, exposing her neck. It had a tattoo that matched the amulet that she wore across the front of her throat. Whatever ties she had been running away from in her youth were clearly no longer an enemy of Emily's, as she appeared to embrace her heritage and culture. It intrigued the Doctor to see something so sacred to him also so important enough to be etched onto the skin of another.

"Tomorrow," the Doctor echoed. "Well, that might be a bit soon."

"Tomorrow night?" she suggested.

"You sound as if you expect me to know what to do," he told her.

She turned to face him. "You're the Doctor. You sure as hell better know what to do."

"Erm… well, I should probably mention that I don't know what is going on. I don't know why I'm here, still."

"I thought we had had that determined, Dad," she said, seeming to put extra emphasis on the word "Dad".

She left the room shortly thereafter, due to needing to pack and deal with some unfinished business in the lower levels. Martha joined her.

The Doctor and Jack were left in the Hub to talk in private. "What the hell did you do that caused me to be okay with you marrying my daughter?" the Doctor asked Jack.

Jack laughed and sat down in the chair adjacent to the Doctor. "I watched her grow up. I was there the day she was born and I'll be there for everything else. I promised you that I'd protect her if you couldn't. I don't plan on abandoning that promise anytime soon."

"I'm glad to hear that," the Doctor replied meekly.

They were quiet for a few minutes before Jack spoke up again. "Doctor, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"Emily cannot go with you tomorrow. She can't go on the TARDIS with us."

"What makes you think you're going too?"

"I already know what happens tomorrow. It changes your entire life."

"Must be big. Do I regenerate?"

Jack shook his head. "No. You procreate."

The Doctor looked puzzled. "How would you know that? Have you been reading spoilers from that book that I had in the TARDIS? Martha said you had, but I didn't believe her… "

"No… that all happens later. That was an interesting read. That River Song's a spitfire… she'll give you a run for your money. That's beside the point though. My point is that Emily cannot, under any circumstances, go tomorrow. She'll fight, she'll cry, she'll beg and plead, but you cannot let her on the TARDIS," Jack warned the Doctor.

The Doctor sat down in the chair behind him. The Hub had an overabundance of chairs for some unknown reason, but the Doctor wasn't about to complain. "When you find Donna tomorrow, you will end up fathering Emily. Tomorrow, if Emily is there, a paradox will occur and you run the risk of changing history forever. Donna might die, Emily won't exist, and things that were never supposed to happen will happen."

"Tomorrow, we'll be back on my timeline, twenty five years ago?" the Doctor asked.

Jack nodded. "Everyone here at Torchwood, in exception of Emily and Donna, have been planning this entire thing for the last twenty five years."

"Has it happened before?"

"No. That's why we need to make sure everything goes off without a hitch, or else, my family doesn't exist."

Emily walked back into the room. "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen my black sweater? You know, the one with the silver buttons and the gray belt?"

"No, I haven't. Have you looked in the dresser in the closet?"

"I just did, but I'll look again."

She walked out of the room, leaving her husband and father alone again. "We only get one shot at this," Jack informed the Doctor dismally. "One false move and all of this is nothing."

The tiredness in Jack's eyes, the worry that made him sick. He was sleeplessly concerned about this day that was about to come to them. "Once it is done, will it happen again? Causing the next twenty five years of my personal timeline to cycle endlessly in a loop?"

"No. We are on a different timeline, I guess. Have been ever since the Daleks took Earth. Even so, it's going to be tense. You're going to have to take orders from me, to make sure that Emily is conceived. Oh, and don't tell her about this. She's still under the impression that we're working on something for the remodel. Oh, and if she asks about the remodel, tell her that you know nothing about it, because it's just a lie."

"What happens if everything goes as plans and Emily is conceived? Will the timelines go back to normal and everyone ends up on the same timeline?"

"Presumably. The Rift might act up a bit, but it's nothing we can't handle here. We've had experience with bad things coming through the Rift. Hell… remember Canary Wharf?"

"I try not to."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Emily walked back into the room. "Jack, are you sure you haven't seen it?" she sighed.

"Emmy, why would I know where your sweater is? I don't wear it, I don't do laundry around here. Check the laundry," he suggested.

"That requires me to go down four flights of stairs and then back up again."

"Then don't worry about looking for the sweater right now."

"Black and silver are acceptable colors for Appares Acwin, and that's the only black and silver piece of clothing that fits."

"Right…" Jack sighed. "Hang on, I'll go look for it."

He stood up and walked past the Doctor, indicating that he say nothing about what they were talking about before Emily came into the room. It was now just Emily and the Doctor in the room alone. "So…" Emily said as she sat down heavily.

"Yes?" the Doctor asked.

"Where have you been?" she asked as she crossed her arms across the front of her body.

"Twenty five, almost twenty six, years in the past. I've been all over the place."

"Such as?"

"Oh, Emily, I can't possibly go through all the places."

"Can you try? You used to tell me these wonderful bedtime stories about all the places you've been. Jack and I are trying to stockpile them all for the baby. So far, we've got about seventy in the database, but I know there are more."

"Maybe you'll be able to experience your own adventures to tell your child," the Doctor suggested. "It's the experience that makes the story. But it is flattering that you're making a point of passing the stories down from generation to generation."

Jack walked back into the room, the black and silver sweater in hand. "It was in the drawer in the closet," he told her with an impish grin.

He set it across her shoulders as he sat down next to her. "You jest," she informed him.

"No, my dear wife, you are just blind."

"Are you sure it was there?" she asked, almost whining.

"Yes, Em, it was there."

"Ugh… I cannot remember anything these days. The baby is eating my brain."

The Doctor looked at Jack with alarm. "You didn't come across any neurovores, right?" he asked with worry.

"Neurovores? Nope… haven't had an infestation of those nasty buggers in at least ten years. Remember that… oh, wait…"

"Yeah… different timeline than you."

"Right. Well, in about fifteen years, take Em and get the hell off of Earth, okay?"

"Duly noted."


	6. Days Before Atlantis: Part 6

The rest of the night was spent with eating dinner, talking about life, and catching up. The Doctor learned he was going to have a grandson, but they were still having issues picking out a name. This spurred the discussion of why Emily was named what she was, to which, Jack explained that there was a woman who was named Emily who was present when Donna had the baby, and Donna wanted the baby to be named Emily in her honor.

Jack did this not to tell the Doctor idle facts about his future, but rather, to give vital information to make sure everything happened that was necessary to ensure that his world would be as it was in the moment they were now all in. The Doctor took note of all of this, knowing that if he didn't, Jack would never forgive him, and the Doctor would regret never getting the chance to see this crucial piece of his life grow up.

It was three in the morning when the Doctor woke up Jack, who was ready to go before he went to bed. Martha had agreed to stay behind, as Jack instructed her to do. Martha was tasked with keeping Emily asleep for as long as it took to get the TARDIS well out of range and en route to Appares Acwin.

They were successful in this venture, and were on their way. Within ten minutes, exactly what Emily had projected the night before, they were on a planet that was the inversion of Earth. Just like Atlantis, it was blue, gloriously blue and aquatic. "Now that we're here… where the hell is Donna?" the Doctor muttered to himself.

As the Doctor's instinct usually did, it led the two men to a place that seemed to have all the answers, a large, cavernous structure in the side of a cliff. The ceiling was clear crystal, letting in the light from the two suns shine through in a geometric pattern that bounced about the room in a dance of light. It was beautiful, brilliantly bright, and did not give the feeling that most of the planets that they landed on the darkness.

"What is this place?" Jack asked the Doctor, looking around in awe.

"I think it's a temple," the Doctor replied, full of awe as Jack was.

"Temple… this is the citadel," a voice said from behind them.

They both turned around to find the source of the noise and found a tall woman with long silvery hair draping down to the ground around her. She wore a silver dress, simple, the same color as her hair, with bluish-black stones dotting it as if they were sequins. "From where do you hail?" she asked in a refreshingly smooth voice unlike any the two men had ever heard before.

"Earth," Jack spoke for them. "We are human and Time Lord."

"Time Lord?" the woman asked in interest. "My… we've seen many peoples walk through our citadel, but never a Time Lord. State your names."

"Jack Harkness and the Doctor."

"Well, Jack Harkness and the Doctor, I am Abaya, and welcome to Appares Acwin. Please, follow me."

They did as they were told, following the enchanting Abaya. Jack, surprisingly, did not try to woo her, much to the surprise of the Doctor, who would have slugged him if he had, mainly because he was starting to feel paternally obligated to Emily.

They walked, at least two miles through large, cavernous halls that were unchanging from the entrance. As they got deeper into the hall, the bluer and bluer the sky seemed to get. "The crystal is becoming bluer," the Doctor remarked.

Abaya nodded. "Not many notice that," she replied. "They are here only to see the end of this hall. To them, it is the destination, never the journey."

"Well, how could you miss that?" the Doctor asked quietly. "Say, Jack… you know what this reminds me of?"

"What's that?"

Abaya turned around to look at them. "We are entering upon a ceremony. You must be silent."

The Doctor nodded in agreement and shrugged. He was going to tell Jack that the hall they were walking through reminded them of the walk down the aisle, much like the aisles he had gone down in his time in this life of his. It reminded him of a wedding ceremony.

They entered into a larger, more cavernous hall, expansive and almost soul-liberating. The Doctor could understand why it was the destination, not the journey that brought people to this hall.

They stood on a ledge of blue marble overlooking a sea of crystal blue water that was fed by a waterfall that overlooked the ocean. It was silent, but there were no need for words in this beautiful place. It seemed like everything explained itself nonverbally, but also verbally, as if telepathically from scenery to psyche. It was only then that the Doctor realized what this place was.

"Is this?" he murmured into Abaya's ear, "A wedding?"

She nodded. "Yours."

"My…?" he squeaked in a barely audible volume.

"She's yours, is she not?" Abaya asked as she gestured at what looked to be a blanket draped across the rocks down, about twenty meters below them.

The Doctor had noticed the object, but would have never paid more attention to it if he hadn't recognized the red hair peering out of a dark cloth. "Donna?" he breathed.

"Is that her name? She only just appeared here to us a few days ago, seeking out a Doctor. Our medicine people were not suited to her lullay, so we waited. She spoke of a man with a blue box. Our hunters spotted it flying through the sky, and we knew."

"As for Jack?"

"He has no mate. He is alone."

"Well, gee, thanks," Jack muttered quietly to himself.

The Doctor walked down the stairs behind Abaya, nearly tripping over himself once he got within several strides of Donna. He dropped to his knees, reaching around to find her neck to get a pulse. He had to paw his way through the mass of thick red curls to get to it, but he found it, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it was present and strong. "Is she asleep?" he asked Abaya.

She nodded. "We do the ceremony in slumber. We take the couples to their wedded bed and they are joined in matrimony in sleep. That is how we do things here on Appares Acwin."

"Inversion of Earth," Jack pointed out. "You get married while you sleep."

"I'm supposed to assume that I'm not supposed to run away at this," the Doctor asked Abaya.

"To run away, leaving your bride, is a fatal crime on our planet. To do so is dishonorable and shows a coward."

"Tough break," Jack remarked.

"Does it have to be me?" the Doctor asked.

Abaya searched his face. "Is she not favorable to you?" she asked in interest. "We could find a bride for you. All people on this planet must be wed. It is how we do things on this planet."

"Is that what you plan on doing for me?" Jack asked, leaning up against a rock that shook loose and made Jack lose his balance.

"No. Your mate is coming."

"I've actually got a mate. She's back home. Brilliant gal, actually his kid," Jack explained, gesturing vaguely to a rock or two behind him.

"I can see her. She is much too young to be your wife," Abaya remarked, looking at him. "Red headed woman?"

"Yeah…" Jack said slowly, stepping forward. "Oh no… don't tell me I end up with Donna, do I? I mean, she's brilliant, but I've already got plans."

"No… this woman's name is not Donna. She is… she has no name. She has red hair, brown eyes, and the most peculiar symbol on her neck. Almost like a dream, or an echo of years past. Ancient history, that mark… Time Lord. She knows the mark of a Time Lord." Abaya jerked her head towards the Doctor now. "Your daughter."

"I told you, I have plans," Jack replied smugly.

"But how do you know of things that have not come?"

"Time travelers," the Doctor interjected as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and straightened up to his full height. "We've already seen what you've described."

"And this is where it all begins," Jack informed the two others.

"So… the ceremony?" the Doctor asked. "What is required of me?"

"Your palm."

"My palm?" the Doctor echoed. "What for?"

"The ceremony. We perform it while you sleep. Your palm is necessary for it."

"You aren't going to cut it off, are you? Because I really do need that hand. I've already lost one hand, and I don't like growing another hand just willy-nilly. We're like worms, but I'm unique. Even so… are you going to cut it off?"

"No. We are simply going to slice the palm."

"Slice. The. Palm?" Jack asked as he looked at Abaya quizzically. "As in slashing the hell out of the palm?"

"No. It's a simple cut, performed by the high priestess, on each person's hand, and after this has been done, the hands are joined in holy unity."

"Well, Doc, I think you're going to have to show me how it's done," Jack quipped with a smirk.

"Gladly. Let's get this over with."

The Doctor was led down a passageway under the waterfall and to a room that overlooked the ocean, which lay, suspended above them, due to the gravitational reversal from Earth. The bed was spacious, suspended by the inverted gravity. The four posts were long enough so that the bed's occupants were not crushed by the ceiling and acted as a proper buffer to this. The rest of the furniture was hanging up by the ceiling, which was lower than usual, and had ladders bolted down to the ground so that whatever was stored in the drawers was accessible.

"How are we walking on the ground?"

"The planet reacts to biofrequencies produced by life forms. It holds us down so that we can properly function as if we were on your home planet of Earth. It won't work when you're on the bed though, that's how it will stay, moving only slightly to accommodate the added weight."

She showed him to the bed, helping him up the ladder even though he needed no assistance. He got into the bed, lying down, thinking he'd kick off his trainers to show good manners, and he loosened his tie. Abaya took his trench coat and his blazer, as well as the tie from his hand and the trainers on the floor and put them into a cupboard.

She then crawled back up the ladder and handed him a drink. It was pale purple and smelled strongly of jasmine. "Tea from the sacred Halapay tree. This will put you to sleep."

"And she'll be in here with me?" the Doctor asked.

His question was soon answered as they brought in Donna, two men with very muscular chests and long hair that trailed down their backs. The Doctor laughed, knowing that Donna would have loved that if she were conscious. He made note to tell her about that when they were awake together. Then, he remembered, as Abaya placed the cup to his lips, that Donna would die if she remembered him. This would make for a very tense ceremony.

When the Doctor fell unconscious, it was the strangest feeling he found. It wasn't true sleep, like humans and Time Lords would define the act, but rather, full awareness without sight or ability to interact. No speech was capable, but he could sense Donna's presence. She was to the right of him.

The Halapay tea caused the body to go completely numb. This would probably be beneficial when the time came to slash the palms. It was an incredible feeling, one that you were floating on a cloud in sheer nirvana. His nerves tickled at the lightest breath of air from those who were attending to this.

Then, he felt someone or something brush his hand. His nerves began to twinge anxiously, as if there was an excitement about the way his hand was touched. He presumed that this was the slash to his palm. All the time, he was considering what he had witnessed while he was here.

The Doctor was having some difficulty trying to remember what was so unique about Appares Acwin, why he had never ventured, but had always heard stories of the planet. If Emily knew what he knew, it must have been important. He had disregarded her knowledge as something that he would tell her in his future, but if she was conceived here, it was quite possible that her conception was imminent and this place must be important.

Halapay… what was the Halapay tree used for? Why was that tea so potent? What made that tea so potent? Why did they need to drink it before this ceremony was performed? And why Donna, of all the women he had been plotted with in his time on Earth? Why was he always going back to Donna, as if the universe meant it to be? What was River Song to him if he wasn't married to her? It wasn't like he loved Donna like he loved Rose or had in store with River, but the universe kept taking Rose away, giving him sneak peaks at what was to come with River, and putting Donna in their places. Why was it Donna?


	7. Days of Atlantis: Day 1

A/N: I forgot to mention this at the very beginning, but better late than never. The formatting has changed for the next few chapters, and will change again a few more times by the time the end of the story. Originally, the story was posted in separate pieces on LJ, so there wasn't an issue with the formatting, but since I want to post the story as one full thing, the formatting comes into play here.

The previous six chapters were considered the first part, Days Before Atlantis. This next part is called Days of Atlantis, from where the title is from.

Enjoy!

* * *

Day One.

The Doctor didn't recall waking up.

It was quiet in the room they were in, the blankets that were around them soft and plush. He felt an arm draped across him, light breathing somewhere near his shoulder. He didn't open his eyes at first, but when he did, he was momentarily alarmed to see that all he could see was red. His alarm was quelled when he realized it was just Donna's hair covering his face.

She felt warm. Humans were typically warm to the Doctor. It wasn't human warmth though. The Doctor knew the proper temperature of humans, and it was most definitely not that warm. Gently, he brushed her arm off of him. She stirred and then, without warning, tensed up around the Doctor. He then realized that she had wrapped herself around him, like a baby monkey would cling to its mother.

"Donna," he murmured.

He felt a shudder across his chest, a tug at one of the collars of his shirt, and a continued writhing from Donna. He loosened one of his arms so he could wake her from a nightmare she was having. "Donna, it's me," he told her gently. "It's okay."

A whimper came from the mass of hair that was still across his body. He searched for her face, brushing away the hair that was almost leech-like in its manner. "Donna?" he asked, each time, getting a little more worried with each nonexistent reply.

She finally moved away from him, curling immediately into a ball, almost like a piece of ribbon, being pulled back into a coil after the tension that was holding it straight was taken away. He noticed that she was clutching at her abdomen, as if it were in pain. The Doctor nudged Donna again, this time with a more deliberate force, which knocked her out of her slumber and made her eyes fly open. "Doctor?" she asked in surprise.

He sighed in relief as he saw her blue eyes staring back at his. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that she knew exactly who he was and was not having any bad side effects from this. "Donna, are you okay?" he asked, almost breathlessly, as he had been holding his breath, waiting for a reply.

She tried to sit up, but found that she was too weak to brace herself on her elbows. "Doctor, what is going on? Why are you here, in my bed?"

"We're on Appares Acwin. It's like the Lost City of Atlantis, only in planetary form. We may have gotten married last night."

"Married? Last? Night?" she asked slowly and deliberately, emphasizing every single syllable before she let out a yowl that startled the Doctor.

"What's wrong?" he asked, flying to sit back on his knees and face her.

She grimaced and clutched at her lower abdomen. "My god… it hurts like fire…" she groaned as her toes snapped back and forth as she wriggled them as result of pain.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, thinking that maybe he'd have an answer from pulling it out to use it. Donna's eyes flew open as she fell back against the pillows in an irrationally violent manner. "Donna?" the Doctor cried out.

"I'm… fine," she sighed as the tears she had been clutching back with her eyes tightly furled together opened, letting back the floodgates.

"This is now the second time you've done this," he informed her. "You are not fine."

He crawled towards her, pulling her hand off of her abdomen so that he could get a better look at what was going on. She sucked in her breath as he barely touched her. "Did I hurt you?" he asked softly.

"It's sore," she informed him. "What do you think it is?"

He didn't want to say what he thought it was just yet. He wanted more answers before getting the ultimate answer. "I don't know," he answered her quietly.

The Doctor started to bleep her with his sonic screwdriver, looking for any indication of what might be causing her to be in such pain. His first instinct was to look for some of the Halapay tea, scan a sample of that to see if there was anything to point him in the right direction. He was on the brink of a breakthrough when Donna tensed up again and, as if reflex mandated, abducted his hand to grip veraciously until the pain subsided.

As the pain left, Donna's heavy breathing made the Doctor's decision. He was going to find Abaya and demand to get a sample of the tea, only a drop or so, to test to see what was hurting Donna. It wasn't affecting him, but she was clearly unwell. "Donna, you're going to dislike this, but I've got to leave for a moment."

"You're right, I do dislike that," she murmured quietly, bracing for another wave of the pain.

"Donna, I'm sorry. I'll be back."

"You had better come back here, Spaceman… I get the sneaking suspicion that this has you written all over it."

"Well, that is to be determined. I'll be right back," he said as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and clamored down the ladder to go find his shoes.

His shoes were in the cupboard, loitering near the ceiling of the cabinet. He snatched them down one at a time to keep them contained in the convenience of the cupboard that was within his arms' length. He slid his skinny arms into the black blazer, buttoning the top button and then hurrying out into the hallway from the bedroom.

He searched for life in the hallway, hearing something down the hall to his left. He turned westward and strode quickly down the long passage until he came upon Abaya, who was busied with a basket of linens for another room. They were in some sort of a hospital, the Doctor decided. "Abaya," he hissed urgently.

She looked up, smiled, and then paused. "Yes, Doctor?"

"What the hell did you do to Donna?" he growled in an angered tone, his accent on some of the syllables almost making him sound Scottish.

"I'm sorry?" Abaya asked, innocently enough to almost convince the Doctor that she knew nothing of Donna's condition.

"What the hell did you do to her?" he asked again, this time, his already tense words became tenser and more aggravated.

"What has happened?" Abaya asked, realizing that something was seriously wrong.

"She's in pain. Excruciating pain. It comes in waves, crippling her. What was in that tea?"

Abaya set the linens down on a window sill and looked at the Doctor intently. "Doctor, that tea, it unifies. It is used solely for the purpose of unions of our people. Marriage unions. Mating unions. It is used to bring together mates."

"I'm guessing mates doesn't mean friends in this instance," the Doctor murmured.

Abaya shook her head. "Halapay tea, when consumed, will mark the first person of the opposite gender whose blood touches your own as your mate. You will only feel attraction to this person and this person only. You will become incompatible with any other being you come across. That is why here, on Appares Acwin, you will find no dissolution of our unions, as you will find on Earth. There is no infidelity, there is no, what you call 'divorce'. There is simply no need for it. Once you are matched with your mate in the ceremony with the Halapay tea, you are with them for life."

"Halapay tea is a hormonal matching solution. I should have known," the Doctor muttered to himself as he hit himself in the forehead, wincing in pain as the scar from the cut made during the ceremony was touched by his forehead. "Donna is the only person who I will ever feel attraction to?"

"That is correct."

"And I will be the only person she will ever be able to reproduce with?" he asked, this time, almost afraid to do so.

"That is correct."

"And, I'm scared to ask but… does this ceremony often cause reproduction?"

"The ceremony is performed first when children are born, to ensure that no promiscuous behavior occurs, then, later, it is performed whenever a child is desired. It is done a second, third, fourth, or even fifth time, after the couple is sexually mature."

"So… yes, it does."

"Yes," Abaya answered. "Is Donna sexually mature?"

"Yes, she is," the Doctor grumbled. "Great. This is just bloody fantastic."

"A child is a blessed gift," Abaya replied, confused about the Doctor's reaction.

"Not when you didn't mean for things to happen in this manner," he replied. "I thought it'd be through the birds and the bees, not through blood transfer."

Abaya said nothing and picked up her linen basket. The Doctor was about to walk off when a terrible thought crossed his mind. "Abaya, what is a typical gestational period for your people? What is the gestational period that is induced by the Halapay tea?"

"Nine days, Doctor."

"Nine days?" he echoed, in shock. "That will kill Donna. Her body wasn't made to grow a child that quickly."

"We have trained physicians that can aid in the process," Abaya informed him.

"I don't know if they'll know human medicine. Do they know how to perform a cesarean section?"

"A what?"

"A Cesarean. You know, a C-Section?"

"I am unfamiliar with your terminology."

"It's where they cut the child out of the mother's body."

"Why would anyone do something so barbaric?" Abaya asked, horrified at the notion.

"There come times where it is necessary to do so. Do your physicians know this procedure?"

"No, they know nothing of this terrible ritual."

He nodded. "It's a good thing I know a thing or two about delivering babies. Donna will need one. She'll be too weak to deliver naturally, if the baby doesn't kill her before that point."

Abaya said nothing in response, but rather, bade him farewell before hurrying down the stairwell with her head down. What the Doctor had told her of the human rituals terrified her and she wanted no more to do with this knowledge. The Doctor sighed, frightened for Donna's livelihood and returned to their room.

He found Donna lying flat on her back, staring up at the silver stones that dotted the ceiling. She seemed to be coming out of another bout of pain, relaxing from the ordeal, and was quiet. The Doctor kicked off his shoes, soon regretting his choice, as they flew up to the ceiling, out of his reach. When he climbed onto the bed, Donna smiled weakly.

She tried to sit up and act somewhat social, but quite frankly, this pain she was experiencing was draining her of all the energy she had. There was never a time where she felt so completely helpless or exhausted. Sensing her frustration, the Doctor helped her up, propping her up with his arm as he stuffed pillows behind her so she could sit up. Donna sat against the pillows the Doctor had put behind her, just so she could sit up and not use her energy for it. "Donna, I know what's wrong," he informed her as soon as he sat criss-cross-applesauce in front of her.

"What?" she asked, draping her arm over her abdomen and rubbing out the pain.

"You're pregnant."

She stared at him blankly, before wincing as the start of the pain began. Even though they had been awake and going through the motions with this cycle for only about an hour, they had their routine down. The Doctor frowned and he grabbed her free hand so she could counter the pain with a tight grip. It was always better to have a hand to hold. When the pain subsided, she looked up at him with her expressive eyes. "No…" she murmured. "I can't be. I've had my tubes tied because Shaun doesn't want kids."

He said nothing, figuring the next thing would be coming from Donna. "Wait a second, Spaceman… you didn't shag me while I was knocked out cold, did you?" she asked in a sassy tone.

He held up his right hand, gesturing at her right hand. "Blood transfer. The ceremony was a marriage ceremony, and we were joined as reproductive mates. We cannot reproduce with anyone else."

The Doctor felt no necessity in telling Donna that she would no longer feel any attraction towards her husband. The pregnancy news was more than enough excitement for her in this condition. "Of all the things you can get from blood to blood contact, pregnant should not be one of them," Donna remarked bitterly. "The worst STD."

He smiled at her, remembering her sardonic manner, the hint of sarcasm and the uncanny ability to speak her mind, no matter the consequences. She was a feisty one, one who would require a proper handler who knew how to take her insults as nothing and love her anyway. He wondered if Shaun was that sort of being, capable of loving Donna for her outspoken and somewhat churlish manner.

Donna began to sob uncontrollably, questioning whether Shaun would still love her if she returned home with a baby that was most definitely not his. She refused to eat, even though the Doctor knew that she needed to eat something before she withered away from the pain's greedy consumption of her energy. He didn't mind when she chucked the plate of food at him, screaming incomprehensibly through her tears. He simply cleaned himself up, picking the food up off of the bedding and setting it back onto the plate which he then took the trash and cleared it off.

When she banished him from the bed, kicking him to the ground to sleep, he didn't mind. He didn't sleep much that first night, keeping his ears open in the dark to hear if the pain was cycling through again. It had become predictable, each new wave of the pain coming about every six minutes. Donna was already a light sleeper, so this pain made it nearly impossible to consider sleep. She only cried.


	8. Days of Atlantis: Day 2

Day Two.

Morning was a new experience for the tourists on Appares Acwin. Dawn came twice, as the two suns rose, one after the other. Donna had fallen asleep about two hours before dawn, much to the Doctor's relief, and remained asleep until well after he had returned from breakfast and getting the local paper.

The Doctor was sitting in the window, looking out at the ocean beyond the trees below them, distracted from reading the paper. He had been sipping tea, proper British tea that he had fetched from the TARDIS, which he had moved into the closet in the room since he didn't want anything happening to it back where he and Jack had left it the day before. He wasn't as trusting of this planet now that he knew what he knew about his place, and wasn't about to take any chances with the tea that they served here.

There was a knock at the door, which brought the Doctor out of his distracted daze. He leapt up, quietly to not wake Donna, and strode the length of the room to answer the door. It was Jack.

"How is she doing?" Jack asked.

The Doctor gestured to the hallway, to indicate that he wanted to stay out of the room to talk. He closed the door behind him and they walked down to the little alcove where there was a window with a view of the ocean. They sat on the windowsill. "She's weak," the Doctor finally answered.

"The worse is yet to come," Jack warned ominously.

The Doctor nodded, knowing exactly what Jack meant. While the baby was growing veraciously, as babies do in a normal term, the accelerated growth wasn't nearly as noticeable in the beginning, becoming more and more noticed and a burden as time went on. The next seven days that were to come, if Donna lasted that long, were going to be very hard on her, the bigger the baby became.

"What if the baby kills her?" the Doctor asked Jack. "Was it supposed to happen like this?"

Jack nodded. "She made it through this part before."

"Is there any indication that she won't this time?"

Jack's body sort of slumped as he sighed and leaned back against the wooden frame of the window. "Doctor, everything is going as it did before. It's just a matter of waiting."

"You didn't tell me that this was how it went."

"I had to leave something for you to discover. What's the point of living if you know the story?" Jack replied with a wink.

"Jack, this isn't the time to be cheeky. You didn't tell me that this process would leave Donna incapable of having children with her husband, let alone incapable of being attracted to him," the Doctor snapped.

"I knew you wouldn't do it if you knew that."

"What makes you think I wouldn't have done it if I knew what doing this would mean?" the Doctor asked Jack, suddenly very conscious of the fact that Jack wasn't himself.

"You would do anything to save any of the people who follow you into the dark. You would sacrifice yourself for every single one. You wouldn't sacrifice one of them for someone who hasn't been born yet. If you had known that Donna wouldn't be happy with her husband, but Emily would come to be, you wouldn't have done that. You want Donna to be happy, happy with the life she is destined to be in, and that means that Emily does not exist. Emily wasn't crucial to the timeline. Time could change and if she never existed, it wouldn't make any difference," Jack explained. "We've looked at the timelines. We know how the universe looks without her."

"That's impossible to know," the Doctor scoffed.

"We have impressive technology at Torchwood in two and a half decades, Doc. You'd be surprised."

"No, it's impossible to know all the far-reaching effects of Emily's nonexistence. Every little thing is impacted by every single human. A speck of dust is impacted by whether someone treads the Earth or doesn't."

Jack smiled and looked down at his hands. He wore a gold wedding band, even though now, it was inane to do so. His wife was not yet born. "She is exactly like you. She will be exactly like you," he explained. "She once told me the same exact thing."

There was no need to give a name to the she they were referring to. The Doctor already knew, somehow, that Emily would have said something like that. It just seemed logical that Emily, the little girl who was yet to exist outside the dark warmth of her mother, would know such things, possessing the ability to convey these points to every person she met.

It was through Jack that the Doctor met his daughter. He didn't have to have any detailed descriptions of Emily or her life to know her. It was through Jack, his eyes, his sad and pained eyes that feared for every coming moment that could be the end of his future. Even though Jack knew that this was how the story went, he still feared that someone would step down on the floor in the wrong way and somehow set loose something that would erase his entire future, leaving him to find his way again in this long and lonesome world he lived in.

The two men who were far from home sat on the windowsill for a few moments longer before the Doctor heard a noise from the room about fifty strides away from them, twenty five if he ran. "I think she's waking up," he murmured.

"What?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Donna. I think she's waking up."

"How do you know?"

"I can hear her."

"I can't hear a thing."

"It's a Time Lord thing. We have exceptional hearing. Will Emily have that?"

"Oh… yeah, I suppose she does have that. Explains a lot, actually," Jack laughed gently as he stood up, keeping time with the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded one last time, as if he were nodding out of the game, before he walked down the hallway back to the room. He opened the door, met with the small noises of waking from Donna. After kicking off his trainers and stuffing them securely into the cupboard, not caring to remake the ordeal from the night before, he climbed up the ladder to the bed. The night before, when trying to retrieve his shoes, he had to jump off of the bed and try to catch onto the shoes as they clung to the ceiling, failing a few times just to grab onto one of the shoelaces. That process had taken several minutes.

Now, he was next to Donna in the bed. She was warm still, a little damp with sweat from the pain. It was just her body's reaction to the pain, this sweating and the fever. Her fringe stuck to her forehead, the sweat acting like a thin paste. Her hands were still clutched across her lower abdomen, but now, the Doctor thought that maybe it was less a reflexive reaction to the pain and more of an instinctual action to protect the being inside.

Her breathing was stable, which was a good sign, he decided, and she didn't seem to be as affected by the pain now that she had become used to it. Sleep should do her good, he thought, and he decided that it was time to get some sleep himself.

The Doctor stretched out on the bed, his long limbs taking up the length of the bed. He then decided that he should get under the covers, so he lifted up the bedding and tucked himself in underneath it all, squishing the pillow under his head for good measure. Almost drifting off to sleep, the Doctor remembered his glasses were on, so he slipped those off and put those in the top drawer of the nightstand that was connected to the bed.

When he awoke, Donna was curled up in the crook of his arm. She was breathing heavily, but not panting, nor was she showing any signs of being in pain. With further investigation, the heaviness of her breathing came from the fact that she had somehow ended up with her face in the space between the Doctor's arm, his upper torso, and the pillow, and her breathing sort of echoed throughout that small space.

His hand had made it into the mass of her hair. He realized this as he tried to pull his hand free from wherever it had ended up. Deciding he didn't need this hand at the moment, he kept it right where it was and stroked the long curls absentmindedly. There was no need to necessarily change how things were right now. Abaya was certainly right… he was attracted to Donna, not really a sexual way, but his adoration of her was heightened.

He closed his eyes again, seeing no other place he needed to be at this moment. A wiggling against the right side of his body made him open his eyes again. Donna lifted her head up onto his chest and smiled sleepily at him. "How long have I been sleeping?" she asked groggily.

The Doctor looked out the window and pursed his lips. "Seven hours," he determined.

"Seven?" she asked in surprise. "That's double what I've been getting at home. Shaun snores like a hog."

He smiled and looked back at the ocean outside. "How are you feeling?" he asked without looking at her.

"I'm starving," Donna asked, realizing that the pain wasn't as bad as it had been.

"Well, that is something we can definitely attend to."

The Doctor slipped out from underneath Donna and helped prop her up again. He was relieved to feel that he didn't have to support her as much as he had the day before. She seemed to have about doubled the strength she had the day before. Now, she didn't rely on the pillows as much to sit up in the bed, and she showed interest in getting out of the bed to go look at the planet they were on.

He was reluctant to let her go explore, but he figured that if she was up to it, he might as well feed the curiosity a little before the pain would consume her once more. If this was the last thing she ever saw, this beautiful planet being the last place she called home, he might as well let her see the beauty of it outside of a bed.

After fetching her shoes from the ceiling because she innocently didn't realize that they'd fly up to the ceiling, even though she had witnessed the incident with the Doctor's trainers the night before, they headed down the hallway. Jack, still loitering in the alcove where he and the Doctor had discussed matters only a few hours before, was surprised to see the couple, but joined them to form a trio. He, like the Doctor, was attentive to Donna and making sure that she was okay, but his motivation was not solely Donna herself, but what she carried.

They walked down the long passage, pausing every few minutes as Donna's pain intensified. She said it still hurt, but the pain wasn't nearly as intense as it had been the day before. The Doctor said this made sense, considering that the first month would also include the development of the amniotic fluid, placenta, and of course, the baby. This, in a normal gestation, would go unnoticed in most women, but for Donna, it had been clear as night and day.

"This is a proper beach," Donna asserted as they walked past a window that showed pale blue sand and a crystal-like ocean crashing upon the beach. "Took you long enough, Doctor."

He smiled sadly, still being eaten by the fear he felt towards the matter. He still hadn't told her about the rapid gestation and what effects that might have on Donna's body. He felt that maybe this was the right time to do so. "Donna," he said quietly.

Jack and Donna turned to look at the Doctor. Jack seemed to know what was to come next from the way he watched the Doctor. Donna did not. "Yes?"

"This could kill you."

"Walking down a corridor with two tall, strapping men?" she asked with a cheeky smile. "Well, there are worse ways to go."

"The baby. The baby could kill you. Having the baby could kill you."

Donna stopped and let her hold on the two men drop. She let her head droop down to her still flat lower abdomen before she looked up at the Doctor's worried stare. It scared her sometimes, those eyes looking at her in an unexpected tension, the intensity of his stare sometimes worse than the actual situation that spurred on the look. "How?" she finally asked quietly. "How could this kill me?"

"You've got seven more days until you deliver."

Donna did the math in her head, realizing that this was much too fast. "But that's impossible. Humans cannot have a full pregnancy in nine days."

"Exactly."

"What… how did that happen?" she asked, now feeling the same fear that she saw in the Doctor's eyes.

"The Halapay tea. It has properties that cut the gestational time."

"Well, it just sounds like the Halapay tea is just a bucket of fun, now then," Donna sniffed as she rubbed out another twinge down on the lower left hand side of her belly.

No one said anything until the Doctor remembered something crucial. "Now, there's another thing that we need to deal with."

"What's that?" Donna asked him quietly.

"The baby is incredibly precious. Bounty hunters and other unsightly creatures from the dregs of the universe will do anything and everything to get their hands on her."

"Her?"

Jack nodded. "Someday, she'll be Mrs. Harkness," he interjected with a smile.

"It's a girl? And she'll marry Jack?" Donna asked in confusion. "How do you know this?"

"Jack's timeline is twenty five years ahead of mine and yours. He's already lived through this. That's why he's here… to make sure that everything goes as it did twenty five years ago."

"Why don't I remember it happening?"

"The timelines are all skewed. We need to realign them, and once the baby is born, that should be how it's done. And you probably won't remember having the baby either. You won't remember any of this unless someone tells you, which they probably will not, since you still aren't safe with having a Time Lord's brain inside a human brain. The only reason you are safe now is because you're pregnant with the child of a Time Lord. And the only reason you are now pregnant with my child is because of the Time Lord you have in you. It is all linked."

"When I have the baby, her, I will forget?" Donna asked, the fear in her voice that was recognizant of the fear that she had had when the Doctor took away her memories after the metacrisis almost killed her.

Jack shook his head. "Not immediately. You'll have about a week of being able to handle the memories and the brain before it nearly kills you."

"Why is everything in this situation out to kill me?" Donna asked as she sat down in a windowsill.

"It's a dangerous situation," the Doctor explained. "There's never been a Time Lord/ human child before, because it's nearly impossible for it to happen. As you can see, it takes a lot of random, sporadic and incredibly rare events to happen in a particular sequence for it to happen like this. She's an impossible possibility."

"And is coveted?" Donna added quietly.

"She poses an interesting threat to you and herself," Jack replied, clearly understating the complexity of the matter.

"Jack, could you excuse us?" the Doctor requested.

Jack nodded and then left the two alone. "I'm sorry," the Doctor told Donna, his eyes trying to figure out what hers were trying to say.

"How much danger am I in?" she asked him. "Be honest. I can handle it."

He thought for a moment, figuring in all the different factors that would put Donna in danger. The rapid gestation, the desire for such a rarity in the universe that Emily was and would be, and Donna's incapability to handle the Time Lord brain within her own all equated to trouble. But he had seen much worse from much less.

"For the time being, quite a bit. However, there is something I can do that will keep you two safe and untraceable from people who want to get at the baby with no regard for anything else."

He sat down next to her. "What do you have to do?" she murmured.

From his blazer pocket, he pulled forth a small vial of iridescent liquid. "It dampens the biological signals that my genes give off when people are tracing me. Sometimes, if I have to get out quickly and I don't have time to become human because it's not necessary, I consume some of this and I'm good to go for a while. However, in this form," he said as he showed her the vial, "it's more potent and it's used to deter the sinister characters. It will keep you safe for a very long time."

"What happens when its effects wear away? What becomes of me?"

"I have other means of protecting you."

"What sort of means?"

"The point is, we need to get this in you. The sooner it's in your system, the sooner we can stop worrying about that cause for concern."

"Don't dismiss my perfectly reasonable questions."

"I'm not dismissing anything. It's not relevant, and even if it were, it's much too complicated to explain."

"We're talking about my safety and wellbeing here. It's relevant and I don't care how complicated it is."

"Donna, I've set up some safety nets and some blockades on you towards anyone with sinister intentions that will keep you safe if no one else can. It's a self defense system, with, if you will, booby traps set up in your mind and in your composition. It's the Time Lord part of you that allows me to do that."

"When did you do that?" Donna asked, squeaking her last syllable.

"Well, some of it was done when I took you home after the Earth was stolen, and the rest is just a biological process that occurs because of the baby. I didn't do anything weirder than simply reorganizing your memories into the strongest defense pattern possible. It's brilliant actually…" he replied with a grin.

"I'm a war machine…"

"No. You are not a war machine. If you were a war machine, you'd have guns strapped to your body."

"Might as well be a tank then if I have booby traps in my mind."

"Donna, they've saved your life before. You're alive because of those booby traps."

She sighed and leaned back against the windowpane, looking out at the water. "Can we go down to the water?" she asked him.

"Are you up for it? It's a bit of a walk."

"If I'm going to die…" she offered up as her justification.

"Donna, it's going to take a whole hell of a lot of things happening for you to die. Jack and I are just presenting the worst-case scenario."

"You certainly don't make it sound like it's that hard. You make it sound like I'm just going to keel over from nothing more than tap on my hand."

The Doctor knew that it would be much less than a tap on her hand that would make her keel over. A breath of air on her cheek or wind rippling her hair could bring her to her death if they didn't take the proper precautions. He didn't see any issue with walking down to the beach, however, considering that he knew a quick route down to the shores from where they were and knew that he could get her back up to the rooms if there were any issues.

The Halapay tea must have started to really take its effect on the Doctor, who found it hard to keep his eyes on anything but Donna. He hadn't really noticed how her hair was almost the color of the skies of Gallifrey when they walked in the sunlight from two suns, her eyes, the color of Appares Acwin, and her skin almost the color of the cliffs of Dover. He hadn't really noticed how incredibly fragile she was now that he had to be aware of how fragile she was. He had only seen the woman who was outspoken and domineering, the person who kept him from trouble's way when all he seemed to get himself into was trouble.

Donna noticed there was a difference in her perception of the Doctor. She had noticed that he was watching her with such attentiveness that Shaun never paid her. She knew that Shaun adored her, worshipped the ground she walked on, but he never looked at her that way. She realized that he wasn't just a skinny streak of nothing with messy hair. He was probably the safest place for her to be, regardless of whether she was about to die or not.

But a baby… gosh, that was something. Donna hardly expected that she'd end up like this, even though she was married and had a house. Shaun and Donna had agreed that they wanted to travel the world, living as just the two of them without many responsibilities other than their parents and extended families. With her mother and grandfather getting on in age, Donna knew that it was crucial to stay close to home in the dreaded chance that something drastic would happen while she was away. But a baby… what would she tell her mother? What would she tell Shaun?

The water that Donna walked into was warmer than she thought it would be. This was definitely the best place the Doctor had taken her in all of their travels. Forget Agatha Christie, this was eons better, except for the fact that death seemed to be following her like that eerie beetle that clung to her back after she had gone into that fortune teller's shop and had her history rewritten.

The strangest part of all of this was that Donna felt no fear when she knew she should be curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth and crying. She could die from a number of things that were all impacting her as she stood in the water. She could die from her pregnancy. She could die from her Time Lord/Human brain. She could die because she was standing on the edge of an ocean and a tsunami, if they had those on this planet, could come along and swallow her into this alien sea. She knew that all of this was right behind her, ready to pounce at any second, but she felt no fear. The Doctor would never let that happen to her.

She knew it was foolish to believe that he could and would protect her from anything that might happen to her. It was nearly impossible for that to be possible. Under any other circumstance, Donna would be skeptical. But, as she placed a protective hand over where she believed her little daughter was, even the most impossible and illogical things become possible and perfectly logical. "Doctor?" she asked as she looked out at the horizon.

"Yeah?"

"I'm still starving."

He laughed and then grabbed her hand. "I forgot about that… sorry."

They went to go get some food, and once Donna had had her fill of some of the local food, such as a grain similar to quinoa, some fruit that tasted like watermelon but had the consistency of avocado, and blue carrots, they went back to their room to sleep some more.


	9. Days of Atlantis: Day 3

Day Three.

The morning started out with Donna getting stuck under the Doctor's arm. After she had wriggled out from underneath the long streak of muscle, skin, and bone, she realized that she was tangled up in his legs too. His pant legs were twisted around his legs and her toes were twisted up in them. Eventually, she was several inches away from him, on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

A tiny little flutter of pain darted through her lower abdomen, but now she disregarded this discomfort. She had sort of grown immune to it, which she was grateful for. Now, whenever her hand drifted down to her lower abdomen, it was mainly to connect with the creature that resided in her. When she did this as she lie on her back, next to the Doctor who was on his stomach, head turned towards her, his glasses still hanging on his ears, his hair sticking up in uncountable directions, she realized there was a little swell where there hadn't been one before.

"Doctor," she whispered, somewhat excited at this.

He mumbled something in his sleep. He was exhausted, he didn't think he needed sleep, and now that he had been granted the ability to sleep, he had fallen in love with it again. Donna didn't take this to be a proper response. "Doctor," she said again.

"Hum?" he hummed sleepily, realizing that she wasn't about to let this go.

"Look," she murmured giddily as she poked him to wake up.

He opened his eyes a little, letting them adjust to the sunlight. He didn't notice what she was gesturing to at first, but after he blinked a few times and pulled his glasses on properly, he saw what was causing her excitement. He smiled and then placed his hand over hers and closed his eyes again.

"Doctor…"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm up for exploring today."

"Donna, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why is that?" she insisted.

"I've still got to dampen the biological traces and that's going to be a long process."

"You've got to do what?"

"Dampen the biological traces."

"You've got to bio-damp me again?"

"No. It's a completely different process. It's for a completely different thing."

"But it's sort of similar?"

"Sort of. Makes you untraceable. But the dampening of the biological traces is a heftier deal," he explained as he turned onto his side, facing Donna.

She wasn't necessarily paying too much attention to him and his explanation. She was just humoring him. This new little change was more interesting. "How do you do it?" she asked when she realized that he wasn't talking.

"I've got to inject it."

Donna pulled a face. She hated needles. Especially ones that injected things. Those were the worst. "Really?" she sighed.

"I know… I'm sorry. It's the only way I can be sure that the baby will be protected too."

She inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly, but made no other protest. "Fine. Get it over with."

He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, searching for the ladder with his feet. When he found the rungs, he clamored down each one with a strange little flair to each step. He searched for the bottle in his blazer pocket and then popped into the closet, where the TARDIS was stashed, unlocking the door to the TARDIS and stepping inside, trying to figure out where the medical bay would be, depending on the mood of the TARDIS.

He found what he was looking for and stepped back into the closet and back into the room. The Doctor stepped back up the ladder and onto the bed next to Donna, who was innately fascinated with how her body was starting to show the changes of pregnancy. "Okay, it's going to hurt a little bit, but it's not going to be bad," he warned her as he stuck the needle into the vial and pulled out the dosage he knew she needed for it to work.

She swallowed and relaxed so he could do whatever he needed to do. When he went for her lower abdomen, she curled up into a ball as a reflexive move. "What are you doing?" she asked him, as if he were insane.

"I've got to inject it near the baby so she gets the same protection as you. She can still be traced even if you can't. I'll make it quick."

"Fine," she grumbled as she pulled up her shirt so that he could inject the iridescent fluid.

The feeling she first got was that of pain, from the needle's penetration. She felt the fluid being forced into her body, dissipating quickly from there. The next sensation she experienced could only be summarized with saying it was like the feeling you got when you were about to go down the steep drop on a roller coaster, the feeling of euphoria and adrenaline-laced angst. After that sensation dropped away, Donna felt normal. She felt tired, but normal nonetheless.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" the Doctor asked her as he carefully packaged the syringe and the vial into a small box which he put into the nightstand next to their bed.

"What was that?" she asked him as she pulled down her shirt.

"That was the dampener working," he explained as he unbuttoned his shirt.

"Why are you undressing?"

"I should shower at some point."

"So you're undressing here? On the bed? In front of me?"

"Donna, I think we've come to the point where we can be completely comfortable with each other."

"Not so, Spaceman."

"In six days, I'm pretty sure you'll be saying otherwise."

"What's in six days?"

"You'll be having the baby…" he replied in a slow manner to show that she should know this.

"Right, with proper doctors and nurses, right?"

"Nope. Just me and Jack. Oh, and a woman named Emily," he added as he remembered his daughter's namesake.

"Oi Spaceman… I'm not going to endure childbirth like that. I want doctors, nurses, drugs, and an operating room."

"But Donna, you lose the experience of having your child if you do that."

"I'm going to forget it anyway," she murmured.

The Doctor continued undressing, not to Donna's complete dislike, but it did make things a little awkward when he pulled off his plaid knickers, answering another set of longstanding curiosities that Donna had had. Even though she vaguely recalled seeing the Doctor's twin in the buff, this was a little more expected and she had let herself enjoy the view a little more. The debate of boxers v. briefs was answered, as well as what his other regions had to offer. Neither answer disappointed.

The Doctor stepped into the bathroom that adjoined to their room. The room was spacious, much like the bedroom, and had beautiful blue and gold accents. The shower was a bit tricky to figure out, but once he had it, he was well on his way to showering. He made note to tell the TARDIS about this shower once they were on their way back to Earth.

Their shampoo and soaps were interesting enough, smelling like any other soap or shampoo, except with more exotic scents such as Ocean, Rain, Grass, and Leaves, and actually smelling like what they were labeled as. It was mystifying and exhilarating to the Doctor, who was used to his regular old shampoo that he had been using ever since he got to Earth. He made another note to make Donna try this stuff, not because she smelled bad (though, she had started to get a little musty smelling) but rather, because she'd appreciate it just as much as he did.

When he got out of the shower, he pulled on another pair of boxers before he walked back out into the bedroom. He saw Donna on the bed, lying on her back, one arm behind her head, the other resting across her front. She looked tired, but seemed content. "You should really try out the showers. They're brilliant," he commented as he strode over to the cupboard to retrieve his clothing.

She sat up to look at him. "Where are you going?" she interrogated him.

He paused, poised to step into his pants, one leg at a time. "Um… well, I was thinking I'd go find Jack and get a paper or something," he answered as he hoisted up his pants over his legs and hips.

She looked a little hurt by this, but said nothing as she fell back onto the pillows. "What? Does that not work?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I was just thinking that we could… I don't know… not go places. Talk or something."

The Doctor pulled over his head a white t-shirt. As he pulled his long limbs through the arm holes, finally popping up through the collar, he made a noise of agreement. "Well, we could do that too," he murmured.

"I'd like that," Donna replied softly.

"Well," he said as he continued to put on his clothing, "just let me go find Jack, check in with him and get a paper. I'll be back, twenty minutes tops."

"Twenty minutes… okay," Donna agreed, almost hesitating, but soon realizing that she was being inane in her requests of him.

He returned nineteen minutes later. He had a cup of some sort of yogurt and a paper under his arm when he walked into their room. The Doctor handed over the cup of yogurt to Donna. "Here," he offered her.

She took it reluctantly, eyeing it warily. "What is it?"

"Yogurt."

"Right. It's alien, so it's not necessarily yogurt. What is it?"

He turned the cup around and examined it. He sniffed it, and then dabbed a pinky into it and tasted it. Thinking for a moment before he answered, he stood there, his pinky finger in his mouth. "Appares goat's milk yogurt. Very high in protein. Try it. It's good. Tastes like watermelon."

She took it into her hand and was lost to find a spoon. Of course, the Doctor had one in his pocket. After taking the spoon into her possession, she scooped up a small bit, letting it fester on the tip of the spoon before she ate it. He was right, it did taste like watermelon. It was a weird experience, tasting something that tasted familiar but with a different texture. And why did everything taste like watermelon on this planet?

After she ate, Donna set the container in the receptacle and handed the spoon back to the Doctor. She then rolled over onto her side and faced him, as he read the local paper, his face furrowing into that look of concentration that she had grown accustomed to, and sort of begun to love. "Anything interesting?" she asked him.

"This," he answered as he handed her a sheet of the periodical.

She scanned the page, not seeing what he meant by it. He turned the page over for her, and pointed to a picture that showed a huge comet. "But why is this interesting?" she asked him.

"That's a comet that hasn't been seen in ages…" the Doctor answered. "Shoemaker-Levy. They thought it was gone… crashed into Jupiter. Actually, never mind… that was actually Shoemaker-Levy. This is a comet that disappeared though. Never knew what happened to it, and now, here we are, three hundred and sixty six light-years away from home and we're bearing witness to it. You have to admit, that's pretty cool."

She nodded and examined the photo more before reading through the article. "It says that it will be passing by the lower hemisphere in three days' time, five days for the northern hemisphere. What hemisphere are we in?"

"We're in the northern hemisphere."

"Will we be here in five days?" Donna asked.

"Presumably."

"Why do you say presumably?" she asked him as he pawed through another page of the paper.

"Donna, you should know the drill by now."

"Doctor, nothing about this situation has been by the book. Getting pregnant from a cut on my hand, getting knocked up by you… not normal or even explicable."

"I think it's pretty safe to say that we will be here until the baby is born. It's the safest place right now."

"Really? This place?" Donna said, nearly sarcastically.

"You don't agree?"

"I thought the TARDIS was the safest place in the universe."

"Not so," he clucked.

"Then, why this place?"

He set the paper down under his leg, so it didn't fly away. Pulling off his glasses, tucking them in his pocket before he turned to Donna, he tried to figure how he would explain this to her. She understood nearly all of what he did, so he had to do this without patronizing her. She may have been getting a little weaker as time went on, but she was still Donna and that meant that she wouldn't get so weak that she couldn't tear him down somehow.

"They know what they did to you. They know what it does, how it goes. I only know what happens from here. I'm not about to take you away from here and have to improvise if something goes awry."

"Well, that's sweet, but at what point do I go home and tell Mum about the baby?"

"You won't."

"I won't what? I won't go home or I won't tell Mum about the baby?"

"You won't be telling her about the baby."

"Doctor… this is her grandchild. She'll want to know about her grandchild."

"Donna, by the time you're at home, the very last thing I am going to want is for you to have any reminder of the baby or of me. It will kill you."

"There's that word again… kill."

"Donna…"

"Doctor, I'm within my right here. I don't want to be the object of some stupid little joke the universe feels like playing."

"Well, here you are, pregnant with a child that should, by all means, not exist, through blood transfer. Sounds like you're what you don't want to be."

"You're impossible."

He didn't bother doing his little charming winking routine. Her tone was not incredulous. She was bitterly upset with him. "I'm sorry Donna," he murmured as he looked back to the paper.

"Whatever happened to talking?" she demanded after a few minutes.

The Doctor turned his head to face Donna, who was sitting up now, criss-cross-applesauce in front of him. "I wasn't under the impression you were still interested in talking to me."

"Why wouldn't I be interested in talking to you?" she asked him in a gentle tone.

"I was under the impression you were upset with me."

"But it's understandable, right?"

"Perfectly."

There was a knock at the door. Donna looked at the Doctor and then made her way down the ladder to go answer the door. It was Jack. "Jack? Why are you here?" she asked as the Doctor joined her.

He held up a small container, handed it to Donna before he turned his attention to the Doctor. "The comet…?"

"Yeah, we've already discussed that," Donna answered. "Seems a little strange, doesn't it?"

"Definitely a little weird," Jack said, still looking at the Doctor with a look of interest.

Donna examined the container that Jack had given her. "What is this?"

"Abaya gave it to me to give to you. It will help with the stretch marks."

"Oh! That's handy. Wait, who is Abaya?"

"The woman who we first met when we got here," Jack explained. "What is that smell?"

The Doctor had been making gestures behind Donna to stop Jack from talking because he, too, had noticed that Donna really did need to shower. "What smell?" Donna asked as she grabbed up her own hair. "Oi… that's me. Sorry."

"They've got shampoo that smells like grass and rain," Jack told her eagerly.

The Doctor agreed. "If you need any help with the shower, just holler," he told her.

"Duly noted," she remarked as she walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind her with a click of the lock.

Jack and the Doctor left the room for a little while after making certain that Donna was able to turn on the shower. "How is she doing?" Jack asked the Doctor.

"Fine, I suppose. But, I'm waiting for the moment when it all hits her."

"Hits her?"

"When she realizes that she hasn't all the time in the world and that she is losing so much again."

"Why does she have to lose everything again?" Jack asked him, intent upon a succinct answer.

"Jack, I can't possibly give her back all of her memories and keep her alive."

"You will."

"What?"

Jack turned toward the Doctor with a huge grin. "Emily… god, she'll be brilliant. That human bit of her will give you and Donna everything you've ever wanted."

"What does Emily have to do with this?"

"Emily figures out how to do it."

"And I'm guessing you can't tell me."

"Nope. Donna has to live out another 20 some odd years of her life before you can bring her back onto the TARDIS. Emily will have it figured out in 18 years."

"She can never know that," the Doctor hissed.

Jack held up his hands, flashing his palms at the Doctor. "I'm not going to tell her or anything. I'm just giving you this as a reference."

"I can't have a hint."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"How are you with delivering babies?"

"Interesting segue."

"Jack…"

"Doc…"

"Really, how are you with delivering babies?"

"It's an interesting process. Done it a few times," Jack explained. "Delivering babies."

"Good."

"Why? Are you having second thoughts about the matter?"

"The matter? You mean delivering the baby, or the entire matter?"

"Delivering Emily."

The Doctor stood against a large window frame and looked out at the ocean that was cresting as it reached shallow water. "She could die, Jack."

"From many things, I hear."

"I need to know she won't die."

"Doctor, she's in great hands. She'll be weak, if I remember correctly, but that's not about to stop her. It's Donna after all. She's a tenacious bull."

The Doctor smiled as his nerves lessened. Jack was right: Donna was stronger than he ever gave her credit for. Probably the strongest of all his companions because she was older than most of the companions he had had in his years on Earth. She wasn't a young twenty year old thing, she was somewhat established in her life, no matter how stupid it was that she was not with him on the TARDIS.

Jack and the Doctor were right. The shampoo did smell like grass and rain. Donna had an allergy to grass, and the shampoo exacerbated it. After a ten minute sneezing fit, she was able to finish taking her shower and figure out where the towels were. She found the towels and dried herself off, stopping to look in the mirror. She was surprised at how quickly her body had become a home to someone else and had not become her own in the same. It scared her.

Since it didn't appear that there were any of the normal amenities found at home on this planet, she toweled her hair dry before she went to dress. Now, she was tired.

When Jack and the Doctor returned to the room, Donna was asleep. The Doctor ushered Jack out of the room with a look from Donna to the door. Jack understood and left them be. Jack recognized that the Doctor was falling for Donna more than he had ever anticipated and it scared him so much that now he was going to have a family he had never anticipated or could hope for. Jack knew that this would be the best damn thing that could have ever happed to the Doctor, to piece him back together in order to evolve the fragmentation of the old man into someone who was tangibly stable.


	10. Days of Atlantis: Day 4

Day Four.

Somehow, the Doctor's feet had ended up near Donna's face. Somehow, his toes had ended up tangled in her hair. Somehow, they had managed to fall asleep like this, and not be bothered by this. "Doctor?" Donna asked as she realized she only had so far she could move.

"Hmmmmmm?"

"Your feet. Why the hell are your feet in my face?"

"Hummmm?"

"Doctor."

"Yeah?"

"Your feet. Move them."

He tried moving them, much to Donna's knowledge as she realized that this was not going to end well. "Stop, stop… I'll get them out of my… hair. How did that happen?"

"Donna, I should mention that I am not a very restful sleeper."

"Yeah, you don't need to tell me that. It's like sleeping with a Mexican Jumping Be… whoa… what the hell is that?"

He turned his head to look at her, and she was poking at her belly, which had grown through the night. "What?"

"I think… the baby just moved," she whispered with an awe-laden voice.

He tried to move, but she winced in pain of having half her hair ripped out. She untangled his toes and he was able to move up to the head of the bed. "There! Did you feel that?" she asked him as she ripped his hand up from his bracing to place it where the tiny little movement was.

The Doctor had been bracing himself with that hand, and he fell onto his face. "Oomph… no," he said into the pillow.

Donna pushed his hand away and he turned onto his side, facing her before he adjusted his glasses, which had been pushed up his forehead in his face plant. "Well then."

"The baby will move again," he assured her.

"But that was the second time. There will never be another second time," she informed him.

"True."

"Why are you so agreeable?" she sniffed at him because there was nothing else to snap at him about.

"I'm not agreeable. See?"

"Don't be contrary."

"But I must disprove your point."

"Doctor…"

"Donna…"

"Stop being so cheeky."

"Fine."

He stopped being so cheeky, but he knew that Donna was just dying to ask him something. "What?"

"Your family."

"What about them?"

"Your children. How many did you have?" she asked him.

He rolled over onto his back and clasped his hands over his front. He sighed and didn't answer. "Doctor?"

"I know. I'm thinking."

"Oh good lord… really, keep it in your pants."

He snorted with laughter. "Nah, it's not like that. It's just been ages since I've thought about them."

"How long has it been since you last thought about them?"

"Almost seventy years."

"Seventy years?!" Donna exclaimed. "My goodness…"

"I've been alone for a very long time, in exception to the companions I've had over the years. My family has become these companions, though, I can never necessarily just plop down in the middle of suburbia and become a husband and a father."

"Bit late for that last bit."

"No suburbia," he said with an intent look into her blue eyes.

"Right… fine, no suburbia."

He sighed and looked toward the ceiling. "I had four children."

"Time Lord children?"

"Full blooded Time Lord children. Three daughters and a son. The girls were good, Eleanor ran off with her boyfriend though. The boy was somewhat of a sore disappointment. Somewhat like me, but ran of to do some honor to his people. The younger two were too young to be killed, but…" his voice faltered off.

"Oh, Doctor…"

"No, this is a perfectly legitimate question, and you deserve to have a little background, given what we're about to embark upon."

Donna wondered why Eleanor was the only child he explicitly named. What was so important about Eleanor that would spur the Doctor to name her? She wondered if the rest of the kids had normal names such as Eleanor. She was surprised at the normality of the name, Eleanor. What she had been expecting was something off the wall and so exotic it couldn't have possibly been a name. She was expecting something like Zog or something. Eleanor was a nice name.

She had a sick curiosity to know the names of his family. Were they all normal like Eleanor? "Doctor?"

"Hum?"

"Did you have a wife?"

"Magdelaene."

"Magdelaene? She had a normal name too?"

He turned to look at her. "Where do you think you got all of your names? They're all Time Lord."

"I wasn't expecting them to be such common names."

"How many people do you know named Magdelaene?" he asked with a smile.

"I don't. But I was expecting your family to have names like Zog and Poosh or something like that," she explained.

"We had a dog named Zog. He was one of the best dogs anyone could hope for," he explained. "And Poosh is a planet."

"You had dogs on Gallifrey?" Donna exclaimed.

He nodded. "Not like the dogs you know of. These were fantastic dogs."

"What's wrong with the dogs on Earth?" Donna asked in defense of her canine friends of her home planet.

"They're different than Gallifreyan dogs. It's how it goes. Cross breeding over millions of years, and that's what you've got now. But the dogs on Gallifrey…"

"Okay, they were bloody brilliant. Zog was brilliant. Why the normal names?"

"They meant things to us."

"Such as?"

"Just things."

Donna didn't investigate further. She stretched out onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Your children… what were their names?"

He hesitated. He didn't know if he wanted Donna to know the names of his children, but he knew that this was important for Donna to know, and she wasn't about to go and abuse the meaning or memory of his family. As much as he hesitated saying it, this was his family now. Donna and the baby were his family. It was terrifying, redefining what the term family meant to him, since he never thought it'd happen again. It scared him beyond anything he'd experienced since losing Rose.

"There names were Eleanor, she was the oldest, then Patrick, then Sophie, then Adelaide."

"Those are lovely names," Donna replied softly, reaching out to grasp his hand.

He fell onto his back next to her and stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah," he sighed.

Donna was quiet, thinking about the days to come. "Will I ever get to meet her?" she asked the Doctor.

"Eventually."

"Eventually… how long from now?"

"Five or six days."

"Doctor…"

"Oh… after she's been born. I don't know for sure, but you two meet."

"Meet, or get to know each other well, having a relationship like a proper mother and daughter relationship?"

"I don't know Donna, that's something you'd have to ask Jack."

Donna burst out laughing from nowhere. "Oh my gawd… I completely forgot about that. She marries him… I should be concerned, but the thought of you having to deal with that… oh… oh!"

Even the Doctor had to laugh about that. "Yeah, I haven't seen how that pans out yet. It should be interesting."

"Interesting, it's flipping hilarious!"

"You aren't going to be jealous, are you?"

"Jealous? I've got a ring on my finger and a scar on my hand. Two men are enough… indecent really, but enough."

"But it's Jack…"

"Even more of a reason why two men are enough," she supplied. "Besides, I can tell that he absolutely adores her, even though you and I haven't met her yet."

"I have met her…"

"But you don't know her like he does."

"True."

Donna rolled over onto her side and started to play with the buttons on his cuffs. "What is she like… rather, what will she be like?"

"Mess of red hair and my eyes."

"Go on…"

"Long streak of nothing…"

"Come on… give me more than that."

"She's gorgeous."

"Of course she's gorgeous. Every parent thinks their kid is gorgeous."

"Right, but by every beauty standard that society mandates as beauty, she fits it."

"So, Aphro- she's kicking again."

Donna grabbed his wrist from her position of fiddling with his cuff buttons and brought it to her stomach. Sure enough, the baby was kicking. "Weird, isn't it?" Donna asked as the Doctor became intent on this moment.

He nodded wordlessly. It was weird to think that, four days before, he had met the twenty five year old version of this four month old fetus. "Have you thought of any names?" he asked her.

"Names? Oh gosh… no."

She then turned to look at him intently. "You know her name, don't you? You know what I choose."

"I can't tell you that. It might change the course of history."

"Doctor, please just tell me. I like the names of everyone in your family, so I'm sure I'll like the name."

"You choose her name. I don't."

"You sure about that?"

"Fairly certain," he replied.

"Well… come on, give me a hint."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It'd be like giving away the ending to something that everyone is anticipating, such as a book or a movie. It's wrong and can ruin people's impressions of things. You will only have to wait a few more days."

"But what if I name her the wrong name?"

"You won't."

"You sure about that?"

"Fairly certain," he replied.

They were fairly quiet until Donna insisted that they go somewhere. She had started to become very restless, sitting in the room, albeit quite large, with just the Doctor and occasionally, Jack. She felt so isolated on this beautiful planet she could only observe from the window.

"Donna… I don't know. Later."

"Doctor, this isn't fair. I want to go somewhere other than here."

"I don't think you're strong enough for that."

"Doctor, I'm plenty strong for walking somewhere. It's not like there's going to be much running," she sniffed.

"Don't jinx it."


	11. Days of Atlantis: Day 5

Day Five.

This morning was different than the rest in the fact that when Donna woke, he was not there next to her as they had when they first went to bed. Instead, he was fiddling with something in the closet. She got up to investigate.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as she heard a clank.

He huffed a bit, peering down from the top of the closet doorway. "Hi."

"Hi…"

He was upside down, his glasses hanging on only because of his mess of hair. Donna wondered how he was still suspended when it didn't look like there was anything to hold him up. "How did you sleep?" he asked her, taking a quick look at the bigger swell before looking up at her eyes again.

"I was sleeping just fine, and then I heard you tinkering about in here."

"Not… oomph… tinkering. Repairing."

"Whatever. What are you doing?"

"Repairing something on the roof. I accidentally dinged up the top and she's refusing to repair it."

It took Donna a second to figure out what he was talking about. "Oh… that's the TARDIS… I remember that."

"Good," he smiled as he pulled himself back up onto the roof and went about his repairing again.

Donna stood in the doorway of the surprisingly large closet, staring at him. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go somewhere today?

"Where?" he asked without looking up.

"I don't know. Somewhere. I feel so claustrophobic in this room, and it just seems like now that we've been bio-damped and I'm finally feeling up to doing something, it's a waste not to go out and about."

He kept working, throwing her question around his head a bit. He was feeling the same cabin-fever that she was, but he was hesitant about letting her get too far away from safety. He also knew that it was important to Donna to let her get out and stretch her mind a little bit with this unique situation.

"Sure. I'll be done in a little bit. Maybe twenty minutes or so. Why don't you go find Jack and ask if he wants to join us?"

Donna looked at him with a blank look. "I was kind of hoping it could be just you and me."

He now looked at her over his spectacles. "Oh?"

"You always want to bring Jack into this, so I'm wondering if maybe you're just trying to get rid of me or something."

She looked so sad; all he wanted to do was jump down from the roof and wrap her in his arms and assure her that this was most certainly not the case. Yet, something kept him affixed to the roof of the TARDIS, and he had not the slightest clue why. "We don't need Jack," he informed her with a hopeful smile.

Donna sighed and brushed her hair behind her shoulder. "Okay. So, what should I… wear?"

He thought for a second. "What you're wearing is fine."

She looked down at herself. It was the first time she had actually examined her garments. It looked like a muumuu, but she wasn't certain. It had poncho-like qualities, very loose and giving, but she felt like she was wearing a potato sack and she was practically swimming in it. She understood the practical means for it, it certainly was nice not having to worry about clothing to accommodate her growing size, but it was by no means the maternity clothing she had imagined she'd wear.

"Do you think they have something else for me to wear?" Donna found herself asking self-conscientiously.

The Doctor made a noise of exasperation. He had just jammed his thumb between the roof and the tool he had been making thorough use of. When he noticed Donna watching him in earnest, he realized she had asked him a question. "Um… yeah… maybe. Look in one of the drawers perhaps?"

"I've forgotten how you get when you're tinkering about with the TARDIS," she replied with a roll of her eyes as she turned to leave the closet. "I'll let you finish. Twenty minutes, Spaceman!"

"Not tinkering!" he added behind her.

She dipped her head back into the closet. "Oh, it's tinkering," she added with a mature gesture of sticking her tongue out at him.

As she went back into the room, she felt strangely at home. She had been in this room for the last six days, light-years from home, but all she needed was within her reach. She had her Doctor, she had her TARDIS, she had her health, and she had her safety. Who needed Earth or normality if she had this?

Looking around the room, Donna decided to take a look in the chest of drawers she hadn't looked in during the time in the room. The first drawer she opened revealed a few books and what looked like a pen box. She closed the drawer, taking note to rummage through this drawer later. The next three drawers were full with bedding and more muumuus that she had no interest in dressing in. The last two drawers were full of medical supplies and some reasonable clothing that Donna decided was better than what she had on.

He quickly finished, ten minutes before he projected, and found Donna sitting in the room wearing a long green dress that she wasn't swimming in. He could tell that the loose dress was made from the downy-soft wool from the Appares Acwin goats. "Better?" she asked him hopefully.

"You look lovely," he replied with a broad smile.

She looked down at the emerald dress and nodded in agreement. "You think so?"

"Definitely," he replied, and with further thought, added: "Is she active today?"

Donna shook her head. "I think she's being lulled by all the movement."

He reached for her hand, but she was two steps ahead of him when he found that her hand was already grabbing at his. From there, they walked out of the room and started to explore the area around the compound they were temporarily calling home.

They spent the better half of the day walking around the large village that the Doctor and Jack had materialized in almost a week prior. Donna relished in every new thing she encountered; the Doctor took great joy in being dragged from one place to another by Donna. The thought that this time with Donna was coming close to the conclusion never once crossed his mind.

That evening, after they had taken a hearty meal with Jack and had discussed matters not necessarily pertaining to the future, the two expectant parents returned to their room, wearier than they had imagined they would be.

Donna climbed into bed and flopped onto the pillows with a heavy sigh. The Doctor followed a few minutes later (he had to brush his teeth) and mirrored Donna's actions. "I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life," Donna informed him as he rolled over to lie on his side.

He grinned and sighed heavily. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt this secure in his surroundings; had it really been that long since he had had such stability? Magdelaene had provided him with a steady home for nearly a century, giving him four beautiful children, but never had kept him this secure.

"What are you thinking about?" a soft voice asked him.

"The future," he replied.

"That's a change," Donna murmured as she rubbed his arm and snuggled closer to him.

He exhaled slowly and rubbed her back with the arm she had just moved her hand away from. "How so?"

"Oh… Spaceman… you're so consumed in those you have lost, forgetting who you were able to save, who you were able to gain, and who you have forever changed for the better. You forget the good in all you've done and will do, because you're set in your ways of the past, consumed by the guilt that overrides your entire mindset sometimes. The future is unwritten, left blank with a few constants that you will recognize from now, but otherwise, left unlived. The past is done, and you must move on."

Donna was long asleep before the Doctor was able to finally drift off. Their day had been spent talking about how Donna met Shaun, how much she loved Shaun, and how much she missed travelling around. He wasn't surprised when she started to talk about their travels on the TARDIS, disclosing that she often had dreams about them. He was surprised, however, at how calm and understanding she was about the entire matter, rather than enraged and hurt by the actions that he had taken to saver her life.

But then again, she was Donna, and she would continue the fight even if the opponent had already bested her at her game.

He watched Donna move in her sleep, moving her hand to rest on her belly as an unconscious move to connect herself further to the baby inside. He recalled what he had been told by Jack: Emily would figure out a way to save Donna's mind so that she could remember all of those wonderful times they had without having to be in uncommon conditions to relish in those times. He was troubled by constant nagging of his conscience telling him that he needed to fix this for Donna, for himself, and mostly, for their daughter.

The very last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Donna's face, smiling in her sleep and his entire future in front of him. It was a daunting image, but one that he was committed to protecting at all costs.

For the very first time in his life, he understood what it meant to completely love someone for all their perfections and imperfections. This was more than Rose, more than Magdelaene, more than any of the others that he had come to love and forget in his long life.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that these feelings of complete content were not from the Halapay tea or what they had been through these last six days. These were dormant feelings waking up.


	12. Days of Atlantis: Day 6

Day Six.

The morning started like the rest of the mornings on Appares Acwin: two sunrises, the slight movements of awakening from both the Doctor and Donna, and the first glimpses at what changed overnight.

However, after the initial similarities, this morning was different to the Doctor. Donna slept on while he stared up at the ceiling, able to gather his thoughts on all that had been pushed onto him in the last few days.

There was an emotion nagging at him from the back of his skull. As much as he adored Donna, as much as his need to have Donna as his own was increasing exponentially, as much as it wounded him to be awake to their shared pain, he still felt out of place with having her by his side. It felt unnatural to have Donna as anything other than a mate, a friend, a confidant. Rose was the one that he loved, he kept telling himself, and the more he was exposed to Donna, the less and less he was able to convince himself that he loved Rose.

He heard a noise from Donna. Jerking his head over to scan her face for signs of being awake, he felt the conflict between Rose and Donna in his head. He knew this feeling well, he had encountered it many times while on the TARDIS, almost constantly when the Daleks had stolen the Earth and had thrown all of the companions together to save the universe, but this time, the ache gnawed at his hearts too.

Though he had never considered why this feeling washed over him when he was with Donna, he suspected it was because of the relationship he had with the redhead who was asleep in the bed next to him. He saw a great deal of himself in Donna. Even before the metacrisis, she was like him. She had the affinity to grasp new skills quickly if she was open to learning; she had the thirst that motivated her to absorb all the juices of the universe. She, like him, had gone through a great change from the influences of a great friend.

She was his best friend, something that seldom came along in his life, and in the absence of Rose, he found great solace in Donna. Donna was different from the others. Rose had allowed him to begin the process of renaissance, the change from bitterness towards what had happened to gradual acceptance of what had become of his people. Martha had had her purpose, somewhat of a transition from the youthfulness of Rose, to the maturity and wisdom of Donna, something that kept him balanced and keen to the point of everything they did together.

Donna now, was giving him a child, sacrificing herself unwillingly to some purpose that was unknown to the Doctor. His daughter wouldn't be as lucky as he, being able to have Donna in her life, getting to know the woman that the Doctor knew. He could explain all the wonderful things about Donna to Emily, but he feared that he would be inadequate in his descriptions.

He resented fate's way of tormenting him. The universe was fickle in its ways, repaying him for whatever he had done to anger it. He had lost his planet, he had lost his wife and children, he had lost countless other people, and now, he was forced to lose something he wasn't ready to lose. This time, however, he knew he had to lose Donna. He had ample warning, and she knew it too.

At least he would have his daughter.

Stealing a glance at the sleeping woman next to him, he smiled slightly as he could see Emily's red hair in Donna's vibrant hair. He saw the gentle curve of Emily's face in Donna's sleeping face, assuring him that Donna would still be with him. If anything that Jack had promised him before awaited him in the coming years, he could do with that. Hell, he had the TARDIS, and he could skip forward to the future and be with Donna forever, taking Emily with him so they could live as a happy family in the future.

"Sleep," Donna said quietly.

He jumped and saw that she was now watching him. "How long have you been awake?" he asked her in surprise.

"Long enough to know that whatever you're thinking about, it's not doing you a bit of good," she replied as she curled her fingers around the pillow.

It was Donna's turn to watch the Doctor sleep. Unlike her, he was actually sleeping while the other was not.

The baby was sleeping, or at least calm, Donna noted as she rested her hand on the bump that was getting bigger as time went on. She knew she had gained at least three inches in the last few hours.

She found herself staring at her left hand, fixated on her wedding ring. Shaun's grandmother had worn this very ring, passing it along to him to give to Donna when they married. It was a simple gold ring with a beautiful diamond in a simple setting. Even though Shaun insisted that, since they'd won the lottery, he should get her what he called a "proper ring", Donna always refused.

There was nothing wrong with this ring; it was flawless, timeless, and valuable to the family. But as Donna gazed at the ring with intent, perhaps it was going to perform a magic trick or something, she found herself finding less and less value in it. She lifted her palm up off her belly and examined the inflamed mark on her hand. Wanting a better look, Donna held up her hand and looked at it in its entirety. A ring and a slice on her palm; which one was more important to her?

Well, which one had gotten her farther in her life? Shaun's ring had gotten her a wedding (finally) and she was happy with him. They had a house, a car; both had finally landed jobs, even though they didn't really need them. She was happy with her life. There was nothing she could ask for and she wouldn't have. But now, as she examined her hand, she realized that the healing slice was something far greater than she could have ever dreamed of before being reunited with the Doctor for the second time.

He could give her the universe, whereas, Shaun could give her a home. The Doctor could give her the past, present, and future, while Shaun could only pledge his future to her. A ring could be lost, but Donna knew she'd wear this scar forever.

But, as Donna considered this scar on her hand, she realized what being with the Doctor meant. It meant pain, it meant suffering, and it meant having no home to call hers. It meant having to walk away when all she ever wanted to do was run back and stay in a single moment for the rest of eternity. It meant that time never stopped for her.

One glance at the Doctor and Donna suddenly felt a wave of emotion that she hadn't expected. The last few days had been more difficult than she knew the Doctor was aware of, but this was more than just the last few days. These emotions were for the time between the last time she saw the Doctor and when she saw him only a few days prior.

Carefully, Donna got out of bed and strode across the floor with her bare feet. She stole a glance behind her before she crept out of their room and walked down the stone hallway in search of Jack.

Jack was walking along the outer walkways of the huge complex they were residing for their time on Appares Acwin. He seemed very deep in thought when Donna found him and began to walk in stride with him. "Do you think he meant to come back and fix me?" Donna asked Jack after a few minutes of walking with him.

Jack looked her way before looking back at his feet. "He never knew how."

"I don't believe that. He seemed so keen on bringing the other companions back."

"They came back on their own accord. He didn't bring them back on his terms."

"But how is it that I'm here? And why the hell didn't he try to help me after the metacrisis?" Donna asked, suddenly feeling flushed.

"Donna, he didn't know how," Jack echoed.

"How do you know that?" she demanded of him.

Jack stepped in front of her, causing her to nearly fall into him. He took her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. "That man… that glorious shell of a man… would do ANYTHING for us, his companions. You know that, I know that, hell, we all know it. If he had known how to help you more than he has, he would have," Jack said in a low voice. "He's not a god. He's simply a humanoid."

"He just left me there…" Donna said as she succumbed to the tears that she had been struggling to keep back.

"He has to just leave people. That's how he manages through his life. You've seen into his head; you know how tormented he is by his life. Why are you trying to add to the torment?"

Donna backed away from Jack, now sobbing uncontrollably. "Why do I bother?" she asked him. "He still loves Rose, I can feel it when I look into his eyes and see nothing more than her. Oh god…"

She turned and hurried down the hallway away from Jack. Jack tried to follow, but his feet wouldn't let him. It seemed as though his body knew to let Donna go away. The Doctor would fix this for her.

Donna found a small corner that overlooked the ocean, and she sat by herself and a small journal that she had found in one of the drawers she had pawed through to find a new outfit to wear the day before. It was a small blue book, one that had eight raised boxes on each cover. It had a thick binding, and the pages were all unlined parchment. It was a beautiful book, something that Donna recognized from a long time before, but she knew that this book couldn't possibly be the same one that she had seen from before.

She had claimed the blue book as her own, and she had snagged a pen at the time that she had taken the book to be hers. Now, she saw in a corner and began to write in the book.

At first, she hadn't any intention to what she would write. She had so much crammed up in her head, and nowhere to put it to, but she didn't know how to start. How do you choose what to pull from your head first if there are a million things vying to be first?

And then it came forth.

She knew that the Doctor had done all that he could to save her. He had saved her in the process, but had taken something that was not his to take. She resented him for this, resenting all the liberties he had taken when locking away memories of him. He had unintentionally locked away some of the memories of her father in the process, things that she had told the Doctor while they were travelling together. He must have forgotten that these were solely Donna's memories that she had recounted to him, and had put them just out of her reach.

She was terrified of the Doctor, just as she had always been. The fear had lessened greatly in the time she had spent with him, but there was always that underlying feeling of fright when she was with him. Donna knew it was naïve to believe that the Doctor would always be her knight in shining armor, though she had believed it for so long. She might have still believed it if he hadn't taken away so much while trying to save her, but alas, here she was, aware to the rawness of the Doctor in all his poisonous glory.

Donna tried, with great difficulty, to convince herself that the Doctor was not the enemy. He was her greatest ally, apart from her grandfather and sometimes, her mother. He believed in her for things that no one would ever consider for her. He wanted things for her that no one wanted for her. He did things for her that no one would ever dream of doing for her, even if she asked them to.

But he was mad. Mad in the sense that he was furious with the world sometimes, and mad in the sense that he was insane. He did things that no one would do—not just for Donna, but for the sake of their sanity.

Donna was happy with Shaun. He was a good man who adored her to no end. And in some respects, he was the best person for her. Lance and others, including the Doctor had come and gone, but Shaun was there for the long-haul.

And yet, Donna could no longer see herself spending the rest of her life with Shaun. It just didn't make sense anymore. Knowing that now that she had come to this revelation, it would be only a matter of time before the Doctor would be knocking her plans again, putting her back into a puzzle she no longer fit into. She despised how the Doctor was so insistent upon distancing himself from her when all she needed to have was him close to her, someone to talk to, someone to hug, someone to just be there.

But it seemed the closer she got, the farther he ran.

It was nearly seven hours later when the Doctor found Donna asleep at her post at the window overlooking the ocean. When he saw the book in her hands, he instantly recognized it and warily took the book from her. Without looking at anything between the covers, he inspected the outside with meticulous detail.

As he sat by Donna and watched the ocean, holding the book in his lap as Donna was propped up on his shoulder, he could only wonder why she had this book and how the ocean was so blue.


	13. Days of Atlantis: Day 7

Day Seven.

The Doctor awoke to Donna watching him sleep. "Hi…" he replied sleepily.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she replied with a kiss to his forehead.

She had been combing his hair with her long fingers, making sure to rub his scalp vigorously as she did so. He felt something like a loyal beagle whenever she did this, but he never voiced this because he knew he'd be sad if she were to stop.

Donna was still unsettled from her emotional breakdown from the previous day. She felt that nagging feeling at the back of her brain, behind all the muddled emotions of love and hate that she felt for the Doctor. She didn't know many things, mostly pertaining to the Doctor and the world he lived in. She didn't know how to love the Doctor, when everything in her existence was telling her that she needed to, that it was physically impossible for her to anything otherwise. This experience had redefined what love meant to Donna, so that it became this muddled, irrational emotion that reminded her of her youth, caught between lust and what was really love. But she knew one thing for certain: she loved her daughter.

The Doctor watched Donna with tired eyes. He could tell she was thinking about something that was bothering her. He'd seen this look in her eye after the trip to the Library, when she had lost Lee and her children from the life she had had when she was saved. "You're thinking about something," he murmured.

"How did we get here?" she replied. "I don't even remember how I got here. All I know is that I was doing the laundry, working on a stain that Shaun had on his blue dress shirt, because we were going to have dinner with Mum and Gramps, and then, the next thing I know, I'm in bed with you, having your baby."

"I don't know if I can answer that for you. All I can tell you is that you disappeared twenty-five years in the future and we tracked you down to this location and this time."

Donna's eyes filled with worry. "I disappeared? Wait… twenty five years in the future?"

"Different timelines, remember?"

"Oh, yes… but that still doesn't make any sense. Why would I be put here? Why not… say Rose, or River? I know Rose isn't in this universe anymore, but what about River? Haven't you got loads of adventures to embark on with her still? I'm not even supposed to remember you and be alive, so why am I able to remember you and be alive?"

She leaned back onto the pillows and splayed her hands over her belly. She sighed and closed her eyes. "None of this seems like it should be possible. Not this planet, not this baby, not this life, not you, not any of it."

She opened her eyes. "Sorry… you've got to realize, before I met you, I was profoundly normal. I didn't have many extraordinary goals, I didn't have much of an extraordinary life, but what I had was enough. After I met you, none of what I had was enough. And now, I'm being forced back into a life that I don't fit into, being back with you and having a baby. You're becoming domestic with the wrong person. And didn't you tell me that the Halapay tea made it impossible to be attracted to anyone other than your mate? You're stuck with the wrong person."

The Doctor sat up now, realizing the full extent of what Donna was talking about. "You don't think I'm happy?"

"You were muttering Rose's name in your dreams last night. You were saying things that you would tell a person you were deeply in love with. You were saying things that Shaun has said to me. How could you be happy when you're clearly with the wrong person with no escape?"

She sat up with some struggle and looked him in the eye, as if she were looking for the back his skull through his eyes. He felt her digging for something, digging for some assertion that she was wrong, that she was wanted, that he was happy, that this was right. "Donna…"

"I need to go get some air," she replied quietly. "Maybe you should take a shower while I'm out. You're starting to smell musty."

She stepped down the ladder from the bed to the floor, gathering up her shoes from the cabinet before she left the room without as much as a bat of an eye to the Doctor before she left. Maybe a shower would help him find some clarity in this matter, because if he couldn't convey how he felt soon, he would regret this for the rest of his life.

The Doctor showered and dressed. He wanted so badly to find Donna to tell her she was wrong, to tell her that she would always be his best mate, regardless of what he had ever felt towards Rose or what he had in store with River. Rose was young, River was a mystery, but Donna, well, she was mature and wonderful and kept him in line- things that not even Magdelaene had managed to be or do in their marriage. And Magdelaene had done a lot- she had given him a home and children.

When he walked out into the hallway, he caught a glimpse of something strange looming on the horizon. It was a huge, bright, fireball-sort of thing. Though he thought it might be one of the suns of Appares Acwin, he soon realized that the suns would not be hurdling towards the city.

Donna came racing, as quickly as a woman in her condition could, towards him, stopping short when she caught sight of him. "Something just crashed into the northern part of the city. The city is on fire, and there are talks of invaders," she murmured. "We have to get out of here."

He looked at her intent-filled look, and knew that she was fully aware of what was happening. "The comet," they murmured in unison.

"What does it mean?" she asked him.

"It means that trouble's about to come. Get back into the room."

"No. We need to leave. Now," Donna insisted.

"Donna, what if you go into labor?"

"What if we die!" she cried out.

"You're acting irrational."

"You're the one acting irrational. We have no idea what is happening!"

"Since when have you been one to turn and run?" he asked her slowly.

"Ever since I had my mind swiped away and made an expectant mother," she answered stiffly, imposing another stone on the metaphorical pile of guilt composed of stones that resided in the Doctor's gut.

"I'll keep you safe. Have I ever not kept you safe?" he asked her, quickly trying to flip through all the times they'd had together to verify that he, in fact, had always kept her safe.

Only a few minutes later was the Doctor's promise almost compromised when a sizeable piece of the roof came crashing down not far from where the Doctor, Donna, and Jack (who had come running for their room to get them to safety shortly after the Doctor found Donna) had hidden. After the roof came crashing in, they could smell smoke and saw flames. "The TARDIS," the Doctor whispered as he stood up. He stopped when he heard a noise.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway. "Doctor?" a woman's voice called out.

He recognized it as Abaya's voice. "Abaya?" he replied.

She rushed over to them and started to usher them away from the scene. "We must get out of here. They are coming," she murmured.

"I've got to get the TARDIS out of here," he explained. "Whoever is here… they're going to take the TARDIS as one of the first things they take."

"Abaya!" a man called out as he sprinted around the pieces of roofing that had come down. "We must get out of here."

"Not without these people," Abaya replied, gesturing to the three time travelers huddling in a corner.

The man's face softened. "Appares Acwin," he murmured in awe.

"Yeah, that's where we are," Donna replied with a bite of attitude.

The man swooped into a bow. Donna watched in interest as the Doctor grabbed her wrist to take her back to their room to move the TARDIS. "Doctor…" she muttered to him.

"Questions later. Safety now," he replied gently as he moved his hand down her wrist to lace his fingers up with hers.

As much anger as Donna felt towards this man, there was such comfort given by this gesture. It solidified all the promises the Doctor had made of her in the time they had been together, from the time that she and Lance had had their failed wedding, to the time that the Daleks had stolen the Earth, to the time that she woke up next to him in bed, to now. He was not going to let anything happen to her.

They got to the TARDIS, breathing sighs of relief to see that their room hadn't been destroyed—yet. The Doctor stuck his head out the door and yelled for Abaya, Jack, and the other man to join them.

When all five people were on board, the Doctor looked around. He had noticed something before he left. "They're Zolofrants," he realized out loud.

"Zolofrants?" Donna asked.

"Shoemaker-Levy? Zolofrants. They attack planets with ships that are cleverly disguised as comets. Not all comets are Zolofrants though. Just some of the tricky comets that seem to disappear into nothingness," he explained. "Is there anywhere we can go to stay safe?"

The man stepped forward. "We have a number of bomb shelters in our city. There were threats of attack a long time ago, so we constructed bomb shelters. No doubt the rest of the city has resorted to these shelters… those who were able to make it out alive, that is."

"Would you happen to have the coordinates for the closest bomb shelter?" the Doctor asked the man.

Instead of procuring the coordinates, the man produced a map for the Doctor, who took it quickly and started to analyze it. He must have found the coordinates for the nearest shelter, for he began plugging in values and started toggling gears to move the TARDIS.

When they rematerialized, they were in a bomb shelter nearly seventeen kilometers below the surface of Appares Acwin.

No one knew when they would see the dual sunsets or the dual sunrises again. If they would ever see the dual sunsets or the dual sunrises again.


	14. Days of Atlantis: Day 8

Day Eight.

Donna woke up sobbing. It surprised even her when she found herself crying, not sure why or how this had come to be. "Donna?" the Doctor asked, putting an arm around her to comfort her.

"Ugh, I can't breathe," she hiccupped as she pushed him off of her.

He pulled his arm back towards his body and opened his eyes. It was not hard to see why she was having such difficulty breathing. She was being crushed by the expanse that now pinned her to the uncomfortable cement ground. "Here, roll onto your side," he suggested, moving back so she could roll over.

She had a little difficulty doing this, but with his help, she was able to get over. Once she was on her side, facing the Doctor, she took in a deep breath and sighed. "How much longer?" she asked with a weak smile.

He smiled sadly and pushed back her hair from her forehead. It was damp with sweat. These last few days had been very hard on Donna, now that the baby was considerably larger than the little 8 inch human she had been only two or three days before. The current sleeping arrangements were not helping either.

Ever since the attacks from the Zolofrants had begun, the citizens of Appares Acwin had taken refuge in the bomb shelters below the surface. The air raids had destroyed perhaps half of the city that Jack, Donna, and the Doctor had ended up in, and there was no telling what the condition of the rest of the planet was.

It had been a long night of listening for more bombing and attacks, though no one knew why these attacks had come to Appares Acwin. Hartley, the man who had accompanied Jack, Donna, Abaya, and the Doctor in the TARDIS the day before, was Abaya's husband and one of the leaders of the city, which had a name, as they soon found out. They had landed Mariana Main, the city that was named to pay homage to their failed Earth colony, which ultimately became the Mariana Trench.

The morning was quiet compared to the night and the previous afternoon. It was nearing mid-morning, per the Doctor's intuition with time, when the invaders had finally infiltrated the bomb shelter as a whole. No one had known how they'd managed to get down seventeen kilometers of rock, but somehow, they had. Fortunately, the invaders hadn't gotten to their particular compartment yet, so they all felt that they had time to stay calm.

The Doctor was restless, despising the uneasiness about the situation that no one wanted to acknowledge. With one glance at Donna, who was now sitting in a chair at one of the tables in the corner, the Doctor suddenly realized he should ask why he was there, or why he, Jack, and Donna were there.

"Hartley… do you have many visitors?" he asked suddenly.

Hartley looked taken aback. "No, not many. Not many travelers venture out into this region of the universe. Why?"

Disregarding Hartley's question: "How do you welcome your travelers?" the Doctor asked.

"We bring them to the temple."

"To be married?" Donna interjected as the Doctor was to ask the same thing.

Hartley looked between the redhead and her skinny streak of nothing counterpart. "Yes… our chief goddess, Emileah, back when our race was young, stated that all peoples on our planet have a pair. Someone who completes them through genetics and abilities. The strong go with the weak, the impatient go with the patient. The good and the bad balance the two out and equal the playing field. The best and worst qualities of each person who walk our planet are paired with the best and worst qualities of another, someone who grows to become the match to their perfect equal."

"Emileah?" the Doctor echoed in interest.

"She was the first of the civilized society we live in, a strong woman of strong heritage. Her background was vague, but her time spent on Appares Acwin was in earnest. She was not born on the planet, but she foretold the coming of a blue box would mean that the planet's safety would be shortly compromised, but the passengers of the blue box would protect us. And with the passengers of the blue box would come another like herself, another strong woman of strong heritage," Hartley explained, seeming to begin understanding their interest.

"The TARDIS," Donna whispered under her breath.

"The best and worst qualities of a person are matched with the best and worst qualities of another to level the playing field?" the Doctor asked, taking a quick glance at Donna, who was watching Hartley.

"The blood transfer, induced by the Halapay tea, transfers physical and mental qualities of biologically similar individuals, ensuring that the perfect match is attained."

"Do the individuals ever get to choose their mate?" Donna asked.

"Seldom. The unions are made when our people are young, as soon as possible if they are older. It keeps our society in balance."

"Doctor…" Donna breathed as she reached for his hand.

When her fingers were laced through his, he finally understood so much of what had happened, seeing their purpose for being here. He and Donna were to save this planet from these attacks, and Emily would be a by-product of their presence on Appares Acwin. Even stranger was the fact that the chief goddess, Emileah, had foreseen their journey to the planet and the people on this planet worshipped their presence. The strong woman of strong heritage must have been Emily, though it could be Donna as well.

"Donna, we have work to do," he said, determinedly to Donna.

She nodded and tried to get up from the chair without the Doctor's help, but he ended up helping her up.

As she got to her feet, the Zolofrants burst through the door of their little room of the bomb shelter. The comfort they had felt only moments before had been false. The soldiers were tall, clad in enamored metal the color of opals, and wore headdresses with long, purple tendrils that trailed behind them. If they were not attacking them, they'd be lovely to admire.

Immediately, one of the beings came to Donna and took her captive. Donna froze in silence, her eyes flashing with fear. She said nothing; however, being an old pro at these sorts of situations, but the Doctor could tell that she wasn't going to hold her tongue for much longer, especially with the baby at risk.

"Donna, don't worry."

"Spaceman, I'm so past worrying," she murmured.

"Let her go," the Doctor commanded.

"Not without fair compensation," the Zolofrant demanded.

"Fair. You take me in exchange for her," the Doctor replied.

"Doctor!" Abaya cried in shock.

"Abaya, he knows what he's doing," Donna assured the Doctor.

The Zolofrant dropped Donna's arms and pushed her away. Jack caught her hand and pulled her so that she was behind him. The Zolofrant took the Doctor's arms and elbowed him in the back to get him to walk. "Don't worry, Donna," he said to her as he was led past her.

"I'm so past worrying," she murmured again before closing her eyes and saying a silent prayer that someone would watch over him in her stead.

The Zolofrants left the room, leaving the four remaining people to sit in shock. Donna and Jack were in one corner, Abaya and Hartley in the other. "What if the Doctor… doesn't make it?" Hartley asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Jack replied firmly, shooting a glance at Donna, who was not paying attention, to prove a point to Hartley. "For now, we wait."

Noticing that Donna was wrapped in worry, quite justified to be, Hartley stood up and moved to sit by Donna, who was staring down at her hands. "Appares Acwin. A queen appears."

She looked over at him. "A queen appears?"

Hartley nodded. "Aparece A Queen. A queen appears. Aparece is "she or he appears" in Spanish, the language which Emileah created. She created the language of Spanish on your home planet. Our original name was Aparece A Queen, but as time went on, it shortened to Appares Acwin. Local color and dialect changed the name of the planet, but as you can tell, it hasn't lost the complete meaning."

"Spanish, Castilian Spanish, originated in Burgos, not from a planet several hundred light-years away from Earth. How is that even possible?"

Hartley smiled. "It really is a shame you came when times were like this, times of unrest and war. You could have seen the universities of our planet, spoken with the wise, the learned, the worldly, and you would have known it all. After all… we did have a failed colony on Earth, you know."

Jack walked over and sat down by Donna. "What about a failed colony on Earth?"

"Appares Acwin was really Aparece A Queen. The name of this planet is a bit of Spanglish. Did you know that?" Donna asked, disregarding his question.

"I read about it while I had free time," Jack replied. "Was that a reference to Emileah?"

Hartley nodded earnestly. "Our people, before Emileah arrived, were at war, constantly fighting over land and power. The weakest and the strongest, so it seemed. When Emileah arrived, she righted our wrongs and made us a strong people. She brought with her a means to find other places to go and see, taking some of our ancestors away to other planets, other galaxies, other ends of the universe. We named her our queen. We eventually named our planet after our term of indication of her presence."

"It's a term of honor, I'm guessing," Donna asked slowly.

"One of the highest. Your daughter… one day, she'll be like our Emileah."

Jack grinned broadly. "I couldn't agree more," he replied as he wrapped his arm around Donna to give her a friendly hug.

The Doctor walked up to Hartley, Jack, and Donna with a solemn look. Donna recognized it from the day he walked back from the travel from hell when they'd been on Midnight. As much as she was relieved to see him here, safe, she still worried about what was to come. "Hartley, I did all I could…"

Hartley's face fell and he slowly rose to his feet. "They killed more of our people, didn't they?"

The Doctor stood, stoic as he had as the Empress of the Racnoss had drowned in her fate. Though, this time, there was no reason for him to stand stoic. It was all false, and he knew it. There was nothing else he could think of doing for this moment.

Abaya's husband looked at the Doctor with pleading eyes. "Please save us," he murmured as he grasped the Doctor's hands with his own. "You know the ways of these attackers."

The Doctor's solemn expression told Hartley that it would take more than a miracle to stop the attacks. It would take a carefully planned out defense, maybe even a little offense, and definitely some quick thinking to stop the attacks. It would take clarity and incredible foresight to conceive an idea competent enough to cease the attacks. None of these people were capable of doing this under these circumstances.

However, the Doctor was capable. Hartley knew this.

"Where is Abaya?" Hartley asked, realizing the woman was not in the room.

Donna's eyes became alert as she saw the open door. "She must have slipped out when no one was paying attention. She could be anywhere."

"Someone could have taken her," Hartley added. "Oh no… they could have taken her!"

As if on cue, from somewhere in the bomb shelter, screams could be heard. Hartley's face paled as he intuitively knew that it was his wife who was screaming. "May Emileah be watching over you and your wife and child," he murmured to the Doctor before nodding one last honorable nod to the Earth woman, the man from the Boeshane Peninsula, and the Time Lord.

"What did you do?" Donna asked of the Doctor, relieved that he had returned.

"Issued a Shadow Proclamation violation. If the inhabitants of Appares Acwin don't defeat them, the Shadow Proclamation will," he replied softly.

Jack watched the door. "He's gone to die," he observed. "He's gone to join his wife in the eternal afterlife."

"We have to get out of here," the Doctor informed them. "To the TARDIS."

The TARDIS took them out of the bomb shelter and to the surface again. This time, they were near the cliff that the Doctor and Jack had landed when they walked through the tunnel of blue crystal. Perhaps this was not the best idea, as there were swarms of people trying to assemble into partitions to fight. Somehow, Donna was separated from the other two, and ultimately became the leader of one partition.

This particular partition took on an army of at least five hundred Zolofrants. They only had about fifty strong men who had weaponry that Donna couldn't understand. These men took to the battle with open arms and a fervent desire to keep their cities safe. Donna took to the role of leader in an unexpectedly efficient way, calling out orders left and right. It was a bloody battle, but in the end, the Zolofrants retreated.

Similarly, Jack and the Doctor had to lead men in battle. It was mostly Jack who was leading the men. The Doctor was trying to find Donna, nearly paralyzed with fear. And when he wasn't trying to find Donna, he attempted to fight the Zolofrants with cleverness and diplomacy. However, no one would have it that way, making the Doctor's efforts petty. Ultimately, it was Jack's leadership that won the battle for the people of Appares Acwin.

The Zolofrant leader must have also been made aware of the Shadow Proclamation's knowledge to their attack. Part of the defeat of the Zolofrants had been made

When Donna came walking back towards the citadel, the part that hadn't been destroyed by the attacks, her exhaustion bore itself all over her. She wore cuts, bruises, scrapes, and blood as result of leading an uprising against the Zolofrants. Jack and the Doctor both were battered, but not nearly as much as Donna. As she had done for him on Midnight, the Doctor walked up to her silently and wrapped her into his arms. "You could have died," he murmured into her ear.

"I know."

There was no need to say anything else. He didn't need to tell her that he had spent the last few hours looking for Donna by screaming out her name, asking people frantically if they'd seen her, trying to see if he could trace the path she took by remembering the last place he'd seen her. He had spent the last few hours in complete fear, completely lacking control, bobbing around in chaos. He was not used to not having control of a situation, and given the circumstances, the fear had almost gotten to him.

But now she was back and he was able to just hold her and keep her safe. There was no need to say anything else.

So, he didn't.


	15. Days of Atlantis: Day 9

Day Nine.

After the events of the two days previous, it was evident that calamity never disappeared for the Doctor and Donna. They'd always known this, so it was rather silly for them to expect that calamity would cease to exist for even a little while.

The day before, when Donna returned to the Doctor, she, Jack, and the Doctor had taken the TARDIS and had relocated to a new city, one that was not attacked by the Zolofrants. Mariana Main was completely obliterated after the two days of attacks, and nearly all the surviving residents had headed inland to start over. Though, by some miracle, the large, blue crystal cavern where the Doctor and Donna had been reunited survived.

The three travelers had moved to Mariana Tertiary, high up in the mountainous region that surrounded Mariana Main and Mariana Secondary. The Marianas Main and Secondary had both been destroyed, thus making Mariana Tertiary the seat of government and the economic hub of the region. The local leaders, upon the arrival of the Doctor, had asked that the three travelers become their leaders. They declined, insisting that the people of Appares Acwin were doing perfectly well with the task on their own.

Somehow, communication had gotten from Mariana Main to Mariana Tertiary that the three travelers would be relocating to the city and would need a place to stay. One of the local convents (Apparently, religious structure on this planet mirrored the religious structures of those religions on Earth) had volunteered itself to host the three for the remainder of their stay. "It would be our honor," Mother Oliviana insisted as she ushered the two men and heavily pregnant woman in the front doors of the convent.

It was a huge, airy space with high ceilings and was adorned with beautiful shades of blue. From looking at this compound, it was difficult to discern that the region was recovering from a devastating attack from off-planet forces. As they walked around the compound, Jack noted that Donna was relying heavily on the Doctor to keep her from succumbing to her exhaustion. Eventually, it became evident that Donna needed to sleep, so the Doctor requested that they be taken to their quarters so they could cache the sleep they all needed. When the TARDIS was moved into the room and everyone was settled, sleep became a welcome guest.

Now, Donna showed no interest in waking up. She had had a very restless night, thus making the Doctor have a very restless night. He had tried to leave and sleep on the ground, but Donna dug her fingernails into his wrist as he tried to slip away. "If I can't sleep, you can't sleep either," she growled, frustrated, into the darkness.

So, he stayed. Stared up at the ceiling all night, but he stayed.

She fell asleep about five hours before the first of the sunrises came, but that was only because the Doctor gave her a sleeping agent that would help promote sleep. The Doctor had fallen into a light sleep shortly after Donna had fallen asleep, but he was still conscious to all sensorial aspects of his surroundings in case something happened and he needed to jump into action. Jack was also on full alert.

But now, as the suns were high on the horizon, the Doctor was still in bed, next to the mother of his unborn child, wondering about the next phase in his life. What would come to be of him? How would he handle raising a child by himself? How on earth could he possibly continue to live as he had with an infant? Would he have to become domestic?

He needed coffee. He still didn't trust the tea on this planet and the tea he had just wasn't strong enough for him.

Carefully slipping out of bed even though Donna was dead to the world, he stepped down each rung and walked into the bathroom to tidy up before going out into the world. He looked at himself in the mirror, examining himself to make sure that everything was just right before he went out into the world, and he felt a sinking feeling in his gut.

He had almost lost Donna the day before. He had almost lost Donna and his daughter. Another daughter and another woman whom he loved, almost gone from him permanently. This had to be the worst track record any bloke could acquire over a lifetime, and he'd had the lifespan of at least ten generations.

The Doctor sucked in a long drawl of air, exhaling only when his body forced him to by switching over to his respiratory bypass system. He was so close to losing it all again. He knew that he had to keep it together if he was going to stay intact through this process, this scary, precipitous process he was about to embark on. He hadn't thought of it until now, but Emily, once she was out in the world, would hardly be protected enough to thrive on her own, without his constant supervision.

Donna, on the other hand, would require a great deal of medical attention once Emily was born, to stabilize her brain function and to erase the evidence that she had bore a child. They had to send Donna back to her life with Shaun no different than how she had left. There would be too many questions that could never be answered if it were any other way.

The road ahead of him and his little mini-Donna sidekick was going to be rough and dangerous. There was no way to anticipate what might be thrown their way, but if the Doctor anticipated the worst, he might have a fighting chance to protect all parties involved. He now understood why Jack said that it was his duty to stand by them from the day Emily was born. Jack had to stand by them. It would be impossible for Emily to survive if she didn't have a complete army to stand behind her.

As the Doctor washed his face and brushed his teeth, he realized that Jack was now his second in line in defense. Jack had always sort of been the second in line in defense to the Doctor, especially when Torchwood had taken the role of defender-of-the-Earth when the Doctor could not. Now, when it was a tiny little redhead who had yet to be born who was at stake, Jack was going to have to take the helm in more ways than anyone had anticipated. Jack knew this more than the Doctor realized.

The Doctor left their room and walked down the hallway down to the eating hall of the convent. It was sparsely populated, as it was at least two hours after the second sunrise and all the peoples of Appares Acwin were busy at work, cleaning up the aftermath of the days before. The only person the Doctor recognized was Jack.

"Morning," he greeted Jack.

Jack looked up and pointed at the newspaper. "You're a local hero," he remarked. "You and your plump wife."

"Oi… don't let her hear you say that," the Doctor smiled as he looked at the paper.

"How is she?"

"In pain. She's asleep. I put her to sleep so she doesn't get too anxious about the baby and stress out even more. She's going to need all the energy she can muster for the delivery. She should wake up in a little while though."

"You seem surprisingly calm."

"I'm very good at hiding my feelings," the Doctor replied absently.

"You don't need to tell me that," Jack muttered.

The conversation died for a few minutes until the Doctor spoke. "Jack, you never did tell me how you and Emily get together."

"I thought I told you that I will be there for everything."

"Yeah, you did, but to what extent? How did you get me to allow you to marry her?"

"You didn't," Jack admitted sheepishly. "It sort of just happened."

"What do you mean, it just sort of happened?"

"You'll see."

"Jack…"

"I'm not telling you any more than I have already told you."

"Jack, I'm entrusting my daughter to you at some point. I think it's fair for you to tell me what happens, who drops something on my head so that I let her marry you."

"Doc, you didn't let me marry her. You won't let me marry her… well, you wouldn't let me marry her, at least. I don't know now, given this conversation we're having. It didn't happen like this last time."

The Doctor's face paled slightly. "You mean, we've strayed from the timeline?" he asked Jack quietly.

"Small things are different."

"Even the smallest of things can have huge impacts. What else hasn't happened like it did last time?"

"I don't know… just something here and there."

"Jack, I'm serious. Please don't mess with me now. I'm tired, I'm worried, I'm nervous, and this isn't helping."

"The big stuff has happened like it's supposed to."

"Quite frankly, the big stuff has no relevance. What small things haven't gone as they did last time?"

"You didn't find Donna writing in the journal the first time around."

The Doctor sat back in his seat and tugged at his earlobe as he thought for a moment. "Would that have impacted the comet and the Zolofrants?"

Jack sighed and looked away as he leaned back in his own chair. "I don't think so."

The Doctor moved forward in such a violently unexpected manner that Jack jumped. "Thinking and knowing are two very different concepts. If Donna and Emily are put into danger because you failed to maintain the small things, you may not have a wife and son, and I may not be able to keep my promise to Donna and her family to keep her safe. This is serious, Jack," he growled.

A solemn nod came from Jack, who had nothing else to say when humbled by the idea that his wife and son might never exist. Seconds passed, and Jack leaned forward into his lap and propped his head up with his arms, elbows digging into his thighs. He avoided making eye contact with the Doctor, who was watching him intently, as he was about to start weeping at the idea that he might lose everything that he had twenty five years from now. Especially since the night before the Doctor and Jack left, he and Emily had decided what to name their son.

"We talked about naming the baby David," Jack finally said when he fought back the tears. "We planned to name the baby David."

Donna came up to the table, looking exhausted and pale. "Hi," she said softly before coming to rest in the chair to the Doctor's right.

Jack smiled as the Doctor put his arm around Donna and rubbed her shoulder mindlessly. This had become something of a ritual for the two of them, finding solace in a world where solace was a privilege for either of them.

"Who is naming the baby David?" Donna asked as she snagged part of the Doctor's toast from his plate. "And did I authorize this when I was sleeping?"

Jack looked at the Doctor. "Can I tell her?"

"You already have," the Doctor sighed.

"Tell me what?"

"In about twenty five years, you're going to be a grandmother," Jack informed her.

"The baby has a baby?" she asked the Doctor.

He nodded. "When we left, she was about two weeks off, right, Jack?"

Jack looked sadly at the two expectant parents. He hadn't really thought about Emily and his son while on Appares Acwin. He had spent most of his time wandering around the compound in Mariana Main, weighing matters of Torchwood. Having to acknowledge that he was back to the start, now being forced to build what he had already built was definitely an interesting challenge.

"She was two weeks away from having our son, David," Jack replied quietly.

"My grandson's name is David?" Donna asked, her eyes starting to well up.

"Yeah… it's a good name, right?" Jack asked, concerned that Donna might not approve.

"It's a lovely name. I just cannot believe that you already know her and her life, even though she's not here yet," Donna explained.

"I still cannot believe that I let you marry her," the Doctor grumbled as he took a sip from his mug.

"You didn't, remember?"

"Well… I'm going off of the basis that I have some say in my daughter's life," the Doctor replied after swallowing his sip.

Jack smirked at him. "Doc… I doubt that you will have any say in… Em—the baby's life after she reaches a certain age. Once she hits the teens, you're done for."

Donna laughed in agreement, without catching Jack's almost-slip of tongue in which he would have revealed the baby's name. "Mum says I was absolutely dreadful as a teenager. If she's anything like me, which I hope she is, all I can say is: good luck, Spaceman."

After finishing their meal, Donna and the Time Lord broke away and went back to their room. The Doctor stole away to the TARDIS for a few minutes leaving Donna as she sat on the bed, staring out the window. When he returned, she was busy cleaning the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a hint of a chuckle in his voice.

"I'm cleaning," she replied as she glanced up at him.

"The room is clean though," he pointed out.

"I think it's nesting. Right… nesting? I've just got this urge to make sure everything is perfect for when she gets here. Nerys was telling me about this when she was pregnant."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, it's nesting. I guess you've still got the human instinctual urges even though you're half Time Lord," he replied, feeling a strange sense of happiness in observing Donna's maternal instincts kick in. "But you should be sleeping. She could come anytime now."

"I can't sleep," Donna complained. "I can't get comfortable."

The Doctor grasped her hand and led her to the bed. After crawling in himself, he helped her in. He gestured for her to curl up right next to her, and even though she didn't think she'd be able to do so comfortably, she was able to curl up next to him. Once she was settled, he wrapped his arm around her and started to stroke her hair. He knew she was content by the sleepy smile she gave him before he pecked her forehead.

"Why did you go into the TARDIS?" Donna asked as she snuggled into the Doctor's chest.

"I needed to check on a few things," he replied.

"Such as?"

"Just some stuff."

"Oh, I see how it is… being vague is as fun as doing this other thing?" Donna joked.

"Well, if you must know, I'm preparing the Med Bay for when you deliver. I needed to check to see if I still had a few things."

"You're not thinking you're going to deliver the baby, are you?" she inquired.

"What? Am I not qualified to do so?"

"I'd imagine you'd be rubbish at delivering babies," she informed him pointedly.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, finding great humor in Donna's reaction.

"You're like Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. You bounce around so much that I don't think you'll be able to stay still for something like the birth of your child."

"They don't call me the Doctor for nothing," he said with a wink.

"I don't think I would want you delivering the baby," Donna admitted, ignoring the wink. "I mean, what if something goes wrong?"

"I'm not going to be delivering the baby by myself. There will be nurses helping, and Jack too."

"I don't think I want Jack helping to deliver the baby either. He just doesn't strike me as being one who knows how to deliver babies, or administer medical help, for that matter."

"Then he'll just be emotional support," the Doctor suggested. "Point is, I won't be delivering the baby on my own. But if something goes wrong, I'm perfectly qualified to do so."

"I still have my doubts."

"I delivered all of my children," he informed her, trying to convince her that she was going to be fine. "Magdelaene thought the same thing that you do before she had Eleanor, and Eleanor was perfect when she arrived. Patrick, Sophie, and Adelaide: all perfect when they were born. And Jenny, even though she was a special case, came out fine. Trust me…"

"But it's been ages since you last delivered a baby, right? What if you've forgotten the finer details?" Donna fretted.

"Donna, calm down! It will all be fine, you'll be in skilled hands that know what to do. Nobody will let anything happen that isn't supposed to happen."

That seemed to quell Donna's fears, as she fell quiet. Like a small child, she appeared to be lulled by the Doctor's heartbeats and fell asleep. Feeling content, the Doctor followed suit, but only after going over the mental checklist he had for when Emily would arrive.


	16. Days of Atlantis: Day 10

Day Ten.

Even though the Doctor had been able to get ample amounts of sleep, when Donna shook him awake, he was exhausted. He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids, one at a time, to see Donna, paler than usual, staring back at him with wide eyes. "It's Baby Day," she informed him.

And with that, the exhaustion was gone.

"Right!" he yelped as he leapt from the bed to the floor, holding out his hand to help Donna out of bed.

"What if she isn't born today?"

"Somehow, I don't think that's possible."

"Well, you hear stories about how some mothers are pregnant for almost ten months."

"Ten months is considerably different than ten days, Donna. If you were pregnant for ten months, the baby would be nearly a toddler."

"Oh gawd…"

"She's coming today," he replied with a reassuring smile. "Like you said, it's Baby Day."

To check the positioning of the baby and to verify the vitals of both mother and daughter, the Doctor led Donna into the sick bay of the TARDIS. He suspected that Emily would be born on the TARDIS, mainly because he could control the environment of the TARDIS much better than he could of the compound they were in. This was one of the few times that the TARDIS was safer for Donna than Appares Acwin.

While Donna rested in a chair in the sick bay, the Doctor danced around the room, grabbing gizmos, flipping switches, reading screens, and preparing the room for any signs of the baby. "You're making me tired just by watching you prance around like a squirrel who has downed four shots of espresso," Donna sighed.

The Doctor turned around to throw a look of amusement at her before returning to his intended task. To tease Donna, he bounced around the room a little more before returning to tend to her.

He pulled up her shirt a little to find the heartbeat with a stethoscope. He clucked in approval before moving the stethoscope up to listen to Donna's heartbeat. "You both sound good," he informed her. "Now, we wait."

They didn't have to wait too long, as Donna's water broke nearly two hours later. She and the Doctor had been walking along the main hallway of the convent, trying to get things going. A passing nun, a small woman with a kind face, had stopped and had promised to go get help. Help was another nun, Sister Emily, who came rushing down the corridor to aid them.

Sister Emily led them to a clean room with white walls and a bed with white bedding. "This would be the best place for the baby to be delivered," she explained.

Donna looked at the Doctor with a worried face. "What about the TARDIS?" she asked in a whisper.

"We'll try this first and if it doesn't work, we will move to the TARDIS," he assured her as he rubbed her shoulder.

Donna was set up in the bed and was examined by another nurse who was brought in to help Sister Emily. This nurse's name was Harriet, and she brought in clean sheets, towels, and other equipment that would prove useful in the delivery of the baby. Harriet's primary job would to be help Sister Emily after the baby was out, by getting measurements and checking the heartbeat, the lungs, and other preliminary postpartum examinations. Donna's contractions were only starting to pick up at this time and were not a bother to her.

This could not be said for the state of things three hours later. Donna was not having a fun time, delivering without aid of medicines that could take away the pain of childbirth as she had intended. "Nerys never said it hurt this much," Donna breathed through a contraction.

Another few hours passed, and Donna was almost ready to push. Sister Emily had been an absolute saint through Donna's crass words that were her way of fighting the pain. Sister Emily was an extremely patient woman who had been instructing Donna on the proper ways of going about dealing with the pain. Initially, Donna had been receptive to this instruction, but by the time the pain had gotten to be intense, the receptiveness to the advice disappeared.

The first few contractions that Sister Emily had talked Donna through after it was time to push had foreshadowed the amount of pain that was yet to come. It was the tenth contraction when Donna let out a primal howl that sent the hairs on the back of the Doctor's neck straight up. He almost let out a similar yowl when she dug her fingers and nails into his hand to counter the pain. Instead, he made the prudent choice to hold his tongue and take the pain. "You're doing great!" he chirped cheerfully through the pain of her death grip.

"Shut it, Spaceman!"

"Okay."

The "hee-hee-hee's" and the "hoo-hoo-hoo's" that Donna was trying to keep up weren't helping to manage the pain, and the Doctor could tell that she was losing grip with reality as she became more and more engulfed in the pain. "Donna, come on… think about… Agatha Christie. Think about the 1920's," the Doctor urged her.

"How the hell is that supposed to help me?" she screamed.

"Um… dunno. Hum… how about… how about Shen Shan? You remember Shen Shan and the frothy drinks?"

"And the time beetle that nearly RUINED the universe?" she raged.

Bad timing was all the Doctor got, apparently. He was trying, he really was, and all he came up with were bad ideas. "How about when you found me after the Adipose Industries incident?"

Donna's eyes flicked over at him. Something had clicked. "Remember how happy you were? How excited and proud you were of yourself because of what you were able to do? Think about that," he told her. "Just focus on how happy you were that day, and don't think about how much it hurts or how long it's taking. You're working yourself into a tizzy, and it's not helping you one bit."

"I was so stupid then…" she breathed heavily through another contraction. "You were daft… no… you're still daft… oh… gawd…"

Another guttural scream escaped Donna's throat. "You're doing great!" the Doctor chanted as she could no longer talk through the pain.

As he watched Donna writhe in pain, he realized that she might have been right… he had forgotten how to deliver babies. But then again, he remembered that Time Lords, while very similar physiologically, were not exactly the same as humans. Magdelaene had had the respiratory bypass and had made extensive use of it when she had delivered their four children. She, through this, had not experienced quite as much pain as Donna was experiencing in childbirth.

Donna's screams terrified the Doctor, who was helpless in trying to stop those cries of pain. All he could do was stand by and be supportive, murmuring words of encouragement and comfort while Donna was going through a marathon of pain.

It was nearly half an hour after Donna had started to push when finally, a head was visible. "The head is right there," Sister Emily called out to Donna, who replied with a moan of exhaustion.

Another ten minutes passed of hard labor when finally, it was over. The baby came sliding out in a state that the Doctor described to Donna as: "the most beautiful and disgusting sight I've seen in several centuries." Donna burst out laughing through her tears of joy and pain as the room filled with the cheerful cheers from the Doctor and the cries of the baby.

Sister Emily handed over the small bundle to the sobbing Donna and the beaming Doctor, who was on the verge of crying himself. "You did it! You did it!" he kept whispering excitedly.

"Yes we did," she replied quietly through her exuberant sobs.

The baby had a pink, splotchy set of cheeks, tufts of dark red hair, and the eyes that the Doctor recognized as adult-Emily's. She was gorgeous, no doubt about it, though secretly, both parents thought she looked angry. And she probably was, considering it had been a long day for all three of them, and she had been just fine where she had been.

"So much for not mating with you," he murmured into her ear, to which she started to laugh through her tears.

"Sunshine… we are so far beyond mating, it's not even funny," she replied as she brushed the baby's tears from the little cheeks without considering doing the same to her own.

Taking this moment to catch Donna off guard, the Doctor swooped in to kiss Donna. Not on the cheek, not on the forehead, but squarely on the mouth. Much to his surprise, she wasn't caught off guard and was ready to do the same to him. When they broke away from their kiss, Donna laughed through her tears as the Doctor did the same, finally unable to express his joy without crying.

All the life that the Doctor had seen, that the Doctor had saved, that the Doctor had created, and this was by far the greatest he could recall. Never had such twists and turns of fate led to such a fantastic result. Even though he knew that in a few days' time, he'd be faced with the devastating task of erasing Donna's memories—cleaning up the evidence—he relished in the moment of being with the closest thing to family that he had had in ages. It was a rare occurrence to be given such moments in time to relish and he was hardly one to waste these moments.

Nurse Harriet came over and started taking measurements of the baby, plucking her away at one point to go weigh her and measure how tall she was: 7 pounds even, and 48 cm long. (Of course, being on a different planet, these weren't the actual measurements; this is what the Doctor converted the measurements to be.) Once Nurse Harriet deemed the baby perfect and healthy, the baby was returned to her eager parents.

The two parents gazed at the baby for what seemed like hours until Jack brought them out of their trance by knocking on the door. He peered into the room and smiled broadly when he saw the little family huddled around the bed. "She's a ginger…" he replied with a slight laughing tone to his voice. "Have we decided on a name yet?"

Donna looked at the Doctor; the Doctor looked at Donna. "You know what she's named," she realized.

"I didn't name her the first time around. You did."

"But what if I name her the wrong thing?"

"We've already gone through this."

"But it matters. Why won't you two just tell me what her name is?" Donna asked, an exhausted whine glowing in her voice.

Jack smiled at Donna and grasped her hand. "How about if you get it wrong, we'll tell you?"

"How about you just tell me?" she replied with a slight tone of mischief.

The baby started to make little niggling noises, and Donna tensed up. "Uh oh… what do I do?" she asked in a concerned whisper.

"Relax," the Doctor said as he held his arms out to have Donna hand him his daughter.

As he gazed down into the bundle, a Stevie Wonder song came to mind. Though he didn't know the words, he hummed what he could remember… "Isn't she lovely? Isn't she won-der-ful…"

With one glance back at Donna, he could see she was completely enamored with her new little family. He could tell that she was solely in this one moment in time, only focused on her daughter and her non-Martian-Martian. Jack was grinning like a goon. "Yeah, she is lovely, isn't she?" he replied as he caught what the Doctor was humming.

Jack walked over to take the baby from the Doctor. He started talking about Torchwood and his home planet, and all the other wonderful things she had to look forward to in her life. Meanwhile, the Doctor was curled up next to Donna, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Soon after, the Doctor was asleep, leaving Jack to keep talking about his world to the sleeping newborn he cradled.


	17. Days of Atlantis: Day 11

Day Eleven.

Dawn came twice on this strange planet the Doctor and Donna Noble had stumbled across. The first dawn brought sharp cries from the tiny bassinette in the center of the room. It was the Doctor who leapt out of bed to go comfort the little girl, but with no avail. The second dawn brought Donna out of their bed, without the same enthused, squirrelly movements as the Doctor, but with a maternal intuition that had suddenly erupted within her.

The Doctor was bobbing around the room with the baby, looking panicked by the realization that he wasn't nearly as useful with small infants as he remembered. Donna smiled slightly at the sight of her Spaceman and their tiny daughter, the one with the bright red cheeks and the soft tufts of very dark red hair. "She senses your fear," Donna said gently as she lifted the baby out of the Doctor's arms and started to bob around the room in the same fashion.

The baby silenced shortly after Donna took the helm. When she saw the look of defeat washed over the Doctor's face, she let out a pitying laugh. "Oh, don't be like that… you look like a defeated puppy," she murmured. "She just likes Mummy better."

"It's going to be a very long next few years, isn't it?" he replied with a quick grin, not realizing what that statement would sound like to Donna.

Donna's smile faded as she looked down at the small bundle in her arms. The baby was asleep, her little hands curling around the folds of blanket closest to her. Donna had been dreading this moment. All the pain, all the fear, all the uncertainty that Donna had experienced in the last ten days, the last few years since she had met the Doctor, had all had a set purpose, and she wasn't ready to forget that purpose. She wasn't ready to let go of her daughter and forget her two Time Lords.

"Tell her about me, will you?" Donna asked the Doctor solemnly.

"Of course," he replied. "Someday, you'll be able to tell her about you too."

"I might believe that, except you're looking at me with that expression you wore when you erased the memories."

The Doctor said nothing.

"Speaking of which, we need to have a little chat about what you're allowed to lock away and what you're not allowed to lock away…" she added quietly.

He knew that Donna had, at best, three days to go before she would have to have the memories erased. These could either be the best three days of their lives, or these days could be some of the darkest days either had ever had. No matter, the baby would be their primary focus before those three days had come and gone.

Cautiously, Donna set the baby back into the bassinette before sighing with exhaustion and gravitating towards the bed. The Doctor followed suit, following Donna up the ladder, to crawl into bed next to her. Within minutes, the new parents were both asleep, and the room was full of sounds of the two sleeping Time Lords and their sleeping Donna.

When the baby started crying about two hours later, the parents both rose to go comfort her. "She needs a nappy change," Donna announced.

The Doctor went over to the box of things he'd brought out from the TARDIS. He didn't know how any of these baby supplies had appeared in the TARDIS, it'd been ages since the last infant had crossed pass the doors, but he was grateful he had something to start out with.

He began to change the diaper while Donna retreated to the bed. "She needs a name still," she sighed. "And you're not going to tell me what her name is, as I've discovered, so where does that leave us?"

"What do you want to name her?" the Doctor asked as he focused on the baby.

"Well, I like the name Georgia, but she's not a Georgia. I also like the name Meg, but it's a nickname for the name Megan, and I don't like that name. The other problem with Georgia is a nickname for Georgia is Georgie, or George, and I wouldn't want to have the baby called those nicknames."

"She doesn't have to be called George or Georgie."

"She's not a Georgia, remember?" Donna pointed out.

"True," he said, grinning at the baby, whose eyes were transfixed on his own.

"Not Samantha, not Amelia, not Cheyenne, not Hope. No Faith, no Talia, no Kayleigh. No Macie, no Skyler or Bryce either."

The Doctor turned back to the pensive Donna with a bemused look on his face. "Okay… what about names you like again?" he asked her with a chuckle.

Donna glanced up at his eyes. "Oh, I don't know!" she exclaimed. "She's too perfect to name…"

"Well, while I agree that she's perfect, I can't agree that she's too perfect to name. I think you're over-thinking it," he replied as he sat down on the bed with the baby brought up to his shoulder.

Donna leaned over and brushed down bits of the tuft-y hair that was sticking up on the baby's head. "You've got to have a name," she clucked to the baby, who was starting to fall asleep on her father's shoulder.

Donna was quiet for a moment before looking up at the Doctor. "I've always loved Emily Dickinson's poetry. I loved this one poem of hers… 'Heart, we will forget him! You and me tonight. You may forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light…' I'd go on, but I've forgotten the rest."

The Doctor smiled. "I've never heard that poem," he remarked. "But it's a lovely poem."

Donna smiled absently as she watched the baby. "Emily?" she breathed.

The Doctor said nothing, and the baby kept sleeping. "That's her name, isn't it?" Donna asked of the Doctor.

"Are you naming her Emily?"

"Doctor… is her name Emily?"

"I don't know; is it?"

"I like it. I think it fits her. But don't deflect my questions. Is that her name?"

"Do you want it to be her name?" he asked, pulling Donna's chain a little.

"Oh, why do I bother with you?" she replied, exasperated.

"Donna, do you want to name her Emily?"

"Yes, I like the name," Donna asserted.

"Well then, there you go. There's your answer. Her name is officially Emily," he replied with a little wink.

Donna's eyes widened. "Oh, you cheek!" she cried out, but quietly, not to wake the baby. "You knew I'd name her Emily!"

"Of course," he replied with a proud tone to his voice. "Though, before, you named her after Sister Emily rather than Emily Dickinson."

"You're impossible sometimes," Donna sighed.

"But you love me anyway," he replied.

"Of course, you big, outer-space dunce."

By the end of that night, the overpowering headache came to Donna. Fearing that this meant that she was losing the ability to be with Emily and the Doctor, she held her tongue and tried not to let it show that she was almost to the end of her reunion with the man she was starting to accept as being the love of her life.

* * *

A/N: Emily Dickinson's poem: "Heart, We Will Forget Him" is a poem that I had to memorize and recite for an English class a few years ago. It's as follows:

_Heart, we will forget him!  
You and I, to-night!  
You may forget the warmth he gave,  
I will forget the light._

When you have done, pray tell me,  
That I my thoughts may dim;  
Haste! lest while you're lagging,  
I may remember him! 


	18. Days of Atlantis: Day 12

Day Twelve

Emily started to squall twenty minutes before the first dawn came. Knowing that Donna was far too exhausted to be getting up, the Doctor scrambled out of bed to take Emily and try to comfort her himself. He decided that he needed to take Emily out of their room to keep the room quiet enough for Donna to sleep.

He gathered the silver blanket and the little girl in the blanket and held both close up to his body, Emily's head resting just below his chin. As quietly as he could, with Emily's whimpering and following his unsuccessful tries to open the door while holding the baby, he managed the door and slipped out of the room before he could hear any noises of waking from Donna.

Out in the hallway, he let out a sigh of relief before he started to walk the hallway with Emily. It wasn't until five minutes after leaving the room that he realized that he had no shoes on. It was also at this time that he realized that Emily had silenced and had fallen asleep on his shoulder. A great wave of melancholy washed over the Doctor as he discovered he could comfort Emily on his own.

He decided that he wouldn't tell Donna. He simply couldn't tell her that he could do this without her, because he couldn't. He was going to have to do this on his own, but that didn't mean that he was going to accept it.

The Doctor kept walking along the corridor, still barefoot, and walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the destroyed cities below. The cities were still remarkable in their state of disrepair, perhaps illuminated by their proximity to beautiful landscapes. The ocean that lay far beyond the foothills and the flatlands of Marianas Main and Secondary was still the color of aquamarine, still the same color as the skies of Appares Acwin, and still so potently blue that the Doctor could only wonder why it was possible.

Donna, on the other hand, had woken and was startled to find that Emily was gone. But, then, she realized, the Doctor was also gone, and her fears quelled. So, she sat in bed and stared up at the ceiling, as she had done so many times on this planet. Absently, she placed her hand over her now-less swollen belly and felt a strange void in her world. It had only been ten days with Emily in there, but it felt like much longer. Donna couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she'd had a proper pregnancy, nine months and all.

It was so quiet now. Of course, there had been other times on this planet when it had been quiet, but there still seemed to be a static noise all around her. Now, it was pure silence. She almost missed the cars going along the street, humming, and sometimes honking. She missed the birds in the trees, missed the neighborhood dogs, and missed the laughter of children playing across the street. But she knew that when she went home, it would not be with the Doctor and Emily.

She almost laughed at the thought of bringing the baby home with her. The thought of showing up at home, baby in tow, getting to see the expression on her mother's face made her smile a little, even though she knew she shouldn't find humor in that situation. She could imagine her mother saying, in her usual tone: "Where on earth did you get a baby?"

"Dunno, just showed up. Maybe the stork brought it."

Of course, her mother would probably suspect something and call the police to check on reports of missing children, because, why on earth would her daughter have a baby?

Gramps, of course, would adore the baby, his great-granddaughter. Emily would be the sunshine of his life, just as Donna was now. He wouldn't question the origins, probably even suspect who the baby's father was, and support Donna throughout the way. Gramps would probably even take Emily up the hill and start teaching her the stars before she was even aware of the fact that she had hands that she could fit in her mouth to suck on.

Donna then thought of Shaun. It'd been a while since she had actually thought about her husband. He was still her husband, more than the Doctor was, but here she was, the mother of the Doctor's daughter, and she and Shaun had no children. It still boggled her mind to think that not even two weeks ago, she was madly in love with Shaun. She loved her life with Shaun, thought nothing poor of it, and now, she loved the Doctor, truly, madly, loved him, more than mates, more than really good mates, but as the love of her life.

And he was the very last thing she could have as her own.

Her thoughts then drifted to the kiss she and the Doctor had shared just after Emily was born. It had been an intuitive action for both parties, something that indicated to Donna that she was not alone in her feelings. That was the sort of thing that had never happened with Shaun, not even after he'd proposed to her. It had been Donna who initiated the kiss after Shaun proposed to her.

She then contemplated telling the Doctor that she was in love with him. She almost felt silly for thinking about it because it was such a weighty statement to drop when she had very little time left. She couldn't imagine how the Doctor would be able to cope with something like that after she was gone. And she didn't know if she could say something like that and then promptly forget and go back to her old life with her old habits and beliefs.

Donna still stared at the ceiling when the Doctor and Emily came back into the room. Emily was nestled into her father's neck, completely blissful and unaware of the cruelties of the universe. The Doctor looked tired, but somehow, he looked less tired now that there was a newborn to care for than he had in the time that Donna knew him before Emily came along. Maybe it was the dependence that Emily had for Donna and the Doctor that invigorated him. Even so, Donna couldn't help but smile.

She rose from the bed, her head still throbbing, and walked over to check on Emily. "You scared me for a little bit. I didn't know you left with her," she told him quietly before she kissed Emily's head.

He smiled apologetically. "How did you sleep?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to tell."

He understood what she meant as that the headache had made it difficult to sleep. Seating himself next to Donna on the bed, still holding Emily, he turned to her. Donna took the baby from his arms and watched him. He then brought his hands up to her forehead and started to coax away some of the pain that he could tell she was fighting. "Does that help any?"

"What did you do?"

"Tried to douse some of the fires in your neural structures," he explained.

She exhaled and shook her head slightly. "I don't know."

"Well, maybe you need some sleep."

"My head hurts so much, that if I fall asleep, I'm afraid of what might happen," she admitted.

"Sleep is what your brain needs, and you're too tired, you're just fighting what your body is trying to do, trying to heal you."

"I just can't," she replied airily.

He sighed and pulled himself up onto the bed completely. Taking Emily from Donna's arms, he then stepped out of bed and put her in the bassinette that he then brought closer to their bed. "Okay, you're going to sleep," he informed her. "If that means I stay here until you do, then that's what it means."

She nodded drearily and then settled into his chest as he leaned back onto the pillows and brought the blankets over her. She rather liked being waited on like a queen, or being cared for like a small child, but she didn't like the circumstances. She didn't like why the Doctor felt obligated to do so. He was worrying, she could tell, and she couldn't stop his worries because she was worrying herself.

Donna must have fallen asleep, because when she awoke, to the sound of Emily's sharp, newborn cries, the Doctor was no longer in the room. She was not pleased with this realization, not sure why he kept slipping away, but was too exhausted to dwell on the matter any longer. She pulled herself out of the bed and made her way over to the bassinette, where she scooped up Emily and started to check for the reasons behind the cries. Emily was hungry.

Twenty minutes after Donna awoke, the Doctor returned, trying to slip into the room quietly. "Where were you?" she asked, her tone coming off a little more irritated than she'd hoped.

"Jack wanted to talk about the logistics of things when we get home. You know, where the baby is going to go, what I'll need to do, what he'll need to do, what Torchwood needs to do, etc."

"You couldn't have told him to wait until I woke up so I might know what's going on too?" Donna asked, now meaning to sound irritated.

His face fell slightly as he thought more of what she meant. "I don't know why I didn't do that," he lied.

He knew perfectly well why he didn't wait until Donna was awake to discuss such matters with Jack. He didn't want to cause any more emotional distress for Donna than she already had to cope with.

"Well," Donna sniffed, suddenly finding herself on the edge of lashing out with bitter anger at the Doctor. "You scared me. You always scare me."

"I'm sorry," he replied.

Nothing more was said. Donna continued to rock Emily to sleep absently. Her eyes were transfixed on the baby's sleeping face, probably from being enchanted with her daughter, most likely from the exhaustion and terrible headache she was experiencing. "Sleep," the Doctor said quietly.

"I can't," Donna murmured. "I don't want to wake her up."

He laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room as he gestured to Donna to let him take the baby. "Really, I'm fine," she assured him, not allowing the tension to be left.

He gestured again, and this time, Donna looked at his readily available arms as a possible option. But, she still held Emily in her arms. "Doctor, I'm fine. She needs me."

"She does, but she needs you coherent enough to process her needs."

"Instincts, Doctor. I have them."

He sighed and looked into her tired blue eyes. "I forget how human you can be sometimes."

"What does that mean?" Donna hissed quietly, defensive from the exhaustion.

"It means what it sounds like. No hidden meanings there. Humans are so consumed by caring for their young that sometimes, they harm themselves needlessly to make sure their offspring have everything they need."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Donna sniffed.

"Not intentionally. But in all seriousness, she needs you to be rested for you take proper care of her."

In actuality, the Doctor knew that Donna was only hurting herself by not sleeping. Her refusal to sleep was hastening the mental deterioration process. She kept rubbing her head, trying to pass it off as being pensive and the pain that was now washing Donna's eyes told the Doctor that she was not well. The baby had been only a quick-fix, something that ultimately may have endangered Donna further. She was weakened by the gestation and the delivery of Emily, meaning that all strength that might have gone to keeping Donna's fragile mind stable was no longer accessible.

"I'm afraid that if I go to sleep, it will all be gone, and I won't do everything I want to do before I have to go," she whispered.

"You have time to sleep," he promised. "I can hold it off for a little longer, but not completely."

She nodded, knowing _it_ was code for _brain-burning-up_. "I still don't want to go to sleep. I could miss so much if I sleep."

He knew that she wanted to just watch Emily sleep. It was almost addicting, watching something that had come from both of them now living and breathing. The Doctor was well aware that Donna was keen on watching her daughter grow up, even if that meant literally watching Emily grow, by never missing a single moment of her life. It is strange how desperation can make perfectly sane people act in perfectly abnormal ways.

It was then that Donna finally lost control of holding her tears back. She began to sob, and stood to put Emily into the bassinette. As if the Doctor were her security blanket, she wrapped herself in him and they stood, for some unknown length of time, as Donna cried.

"I don't want to go," she sobbed into his shoulder. "I can't just leave her… she's my baby! Don't make me go, Doctor… don't make me go…"

He never made a noise, even though the agony that raged through him was nearing the surface. Even for all its brilliance, he utterly despised the universe sometimes.


	19. Days of Atlantis: Day 13

Day Thirteen

When the Doctor awoke, it was not to the sounds of a baby, nor was it to the sounds of Donna. It was Jack waking him up with a fervent nudging. "Doc, you have to wake up. Something's wrong with Donna."

The Doctor sat up, eyes wide, and he looked around to not find the redhead he had become so entwined to. "Where? Where is she?"

"The sisters had to take her. She's in their medical facilities. She's been running a fever since very early this morning," Jack explained.

"Emily. Where's Emily?" the Doctor asked, panicking because he couldn't find either of the two people who mattered most to him. "Wait… since this morning?"

He pulled on his trainers and shrugged on his blazer before he started to look for Emily in the bassinette. "Jack, where are they?" he asked again, his temper evolving.

Jack put his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Calm down. I have Emily, she's fine. Donna is in the medical facilities on the opposite end of the convent, where she had Emily."

This did nothing to quell the Doctor's anxieties. His daughter was nowhere to be found, Donna was being treated for the beginning of her demise. These physicians would not have the slightest clue what they were dealing with and probably would only make it worse. "Get Emily," he commanded of Jack.

Jack nodded and walked out of the door after the Doctor, who began sprinting down the long corridors of the convent. The Doctor only had one focus, and that was to get to Donna. The sickness was starting to gather in his stomach, his head aching at the knowledge that they had no more time to be a family. This was the end of their time as being a proper family with a mother, a father, and a child. This was it. He was on his own from this point forward.

Walking into the room where Donna was sleeping, the Doctor nearly collapsed in his emotional distress. He had to find the closest trash receptacle to dry heave into before disintegrating into all-encompassing tears. Donna heard his sobs and woke up. "Are you there?" she asked him quietly, revealing the weakness she had succumbed to.

"Hi," he sniffed as he tried to pull a brave face for Donna.

"Don't do that. Stop being brave for me. We know it's not going to work," she ordered him as her eyes started to water. "It's okay… we can cry together." He shuddered as he took in a breath and crawled into the bed next to Donna.

Later, maybe three hours later, their collective tears stained their faces and their clothing as they remained intertwined in Donna's bed in the medical facilities. "Tell her about me," Donna said quietly as the Doctor stroked her long, red curls. "Tell her all about the wonderful times we had."

"Of course," he murmured into her hair as he ducked his lips to reach her head.

"Tell her about Gramps. And Mum. Tell her about Dad. You remember what I told you about him… years ago?" Donna asked.

"Mmmhmmm," he hummed into her hair.

Of course he does, she thought, as she recalled that he had locked away her memories. But, as she thought more of it, it didn't mean that he knew the memories as she knew them. She made note to remind him again that he was not allowed to mess with any memories of her father. She needed to remember all she could of her father if she couldn't know of her daughter.

Her hair smelled like rain. It smelled like a forest after a rainy day following a long dry spell. It smelled like freshness, like renewal, like life was reawakening after a long time of being constricted with the dust and grime of times without an opportunity to renew itself. The smell was faint though. As he drew in another breath, the Doctor thought to himself that the smell of her hair was like the person herself; something being stripped of all residues to have the residue put back.

"Will you be alright?" Donna asked him, gripping his hand tighter than before.

"I'm always alright," he replied quietly.

"I know. That's what I'm worried about," she whispered. "I don't want you to be alright for Emily. I want you to be able to accept what has happened so you can do this." He sighed and had to swallow his tears. "I don't think I can do this," he admitted, out loud, for the first time.

"You have Jack," Donna reminded him.

"Jack isn't you."

"What about River?" Donna asked him, bringing the Doctor to look at her with a look of interest.

The thought of River and her death sickened the Doctor. Dealing with the loss of one of his companions was enough for the moment, especially if this was a companion he was deeply in love with. Even though River was still in store for him, he felt no desire to dwell on those matters when he still had time with Donna. At this rate, they probably had another eighteen hours to stay together, holding themselves together until the last minute, when everything would fall to shards of glass on the ground of the Doctor's life. Until then, he was all consumed in the present, paying special regard to making sure that he was everything that she needed him to be.

The feelings the Doctor was being attacked with were more than Rose, more than Magdelaene, certainly more than anyone else he'd ever thought he'd been in love with. He had never been brought to pieces with them quite like how he'd been when he was with Donna. This was deeper than he had anticipated. This was more than a little trip gone awry… this was a moment that would define the lives of many people.

Jack's promises and knowledge of the situation had no effect on keeping the Doctor sane enough to hold it together; perhaps Jack's expertise had the adverse effect and kept the Doctor distant from Donna when she needed him to be so close that they were almost one person.

"Doctor, she's your future. Maybe she can help you," Donna replied. "She seems to know you. Maybe she will help you raise Emily."

"I don't want River's help raising Emily," he answered like a stubborn child.

"I know that. But you have it; you have all of it, just like this, right here, right now. Nothing can change that. Please… just find someone. Have someone to walk you through this. Find someone to be your Magdelaene, someone who can help raise Emily properly and to keep you sane."

He knew that he didn't need another Magdelaene; he needed Donna, but no one like Donna. Just Donna in her own flesh and blood.

"I don't want this if it means that she raises Emily with me, that Emily won't have a mother… that I won't have you," he reiterated before breaking out into sobs once again.

Donna followed suit, curling herself around him once more. She had a blind hope that somehow, the closer she could snuggle into him, the more chance she had of having him help her heal so they could avoid the inevitable severing of their ties.

Four hours later, Jack came into the room with Emily, who was awake, but quiet. "She can sense something is going on," he explained as he set the small child, swathed in a white blanket, into the cradle that her parents had created with their close cuddle.

Donna reached for her daughter, smiling at the beautiful eyes that she and the Doctor had produced in their little accident of time and space. "We never gave her a proper middle name, did we?" she asked the Doctor.

"No, we didn't," he agreed as he stroked back the mess of hair that covered Emily's small skull.

"I rather like the name Artemis," Donna told the Doctor. "Learned all I could about Greek mythology in school. I loved it."

The Doctor found no objections, and so their daughter finally had a proper name. Emily Artemis. Three days old, and the baby had a name that was more than a first name. Emily Artemis Noble— the name that would eventually go down in the histories of hundreds, if not thousands, of cultures interspersed about the universe. Even though he was dreading the task ahead of he and Donna, the Doctor found great joy in knowing that his little redheaded assistant finally was named, and it had been Donna who named her before her time with the two of them was through.

Ten hours of staring at the baby, sobbing softly, and whispering parting thoughts to one another gave way to another three hours of discussing their hopes and fears. The first half of the final hour was spent with Jack and the Doctor planning the logistics of the journey home. Donna still had an infuriating headache, but was determined not to let it show. She was fully aware of how the Doctor was going to handle the grief of losing her again, and it was her duty to him and her daughter to make sure that she was as strong for them as she could muster.

And then it was time. They were down to the final half hour before the Doctor knew that Donna would fall unconscious and he would be set to work, working to keep her alive as he had done before. This time, he had a clear plan as to how he was going to do this, one that he knew would keep her safe until there was a way to bring her back into his life properly, erasing the traces of the cause of their tragic separation that had incurred such grief in the depths of his soul before.

Seven o'clock in the evening, London time, Donna fell unconscious. She had said good bye to the Doctor, goodbye to Jack, goodbye to her daughter through her tears. Her head was searing. The pain was so overwhelming for her that even Emily was screaming in distress. The Doctor had broken into tears at this horrific scene, praying to some long-forgotten entity that he hadn't paid homage to since he was a young man fighting for his people.

When the screams of Emily died away with the signs of consciousness from Donna, it was time for the Doctor to get to work for mending Donna's heavily damaged neural system. Her last words to him resounded in his head: "Thank you for doing all you could. I've loved every moment of it because I was with you. And I love you for that. Because I am in love with you."

As Jack carried the unconscious Donna and the Doctor carried the sleeping Emily back to the TARDIS to get back home, back to reality, the Doctor nearly lost his composure once more when recalling her last words. He hadn't gotten the chance to say that he was in love with her too.


	20. Days of Atlantis: Day 14

Day Fourteen

Donna woke up. She was in her bed, in her bedroom, in her house. Beside her, Shaun sat in a chair, reading. "Morning, sunshine," he said jokingly as she turned toward him.

"How long have I been sleeping?" she asked groggily, trying to shake off the very strange dream she'd had.

She had dreamt of the man in the trench coat again, the man with the untidy brown hair and the beautiful brown eyes and the freckles that trailed across his cheeks and down his neck, shoulders, arms, and back. She didn't know how she knew where these freckles had been, but she had a sneaking suspicion she'd seen this man in her dream in the buff at some point.

"The normal amount of time for taking a nap, I suppose."

"Then why are you sitting in the chair over there?" she asked of her husband.

"I didn't want to wake you with my reading, except I was wondering if you were going to wake up in time to go to your mother's for dinner."

Somewhere, Donna wanted to accuse Shaun of lying, but as she glanced over at the clock, it was completely normal for her to be in bed, taking a nap, normal for Shaun to be reading at this hour, and normal for her to be in her bedroom. She had ironing Shaun's shirt before they went to her mother's house for dinner, and she'd decided to take a little nap beforehand. She sighed in relief and brought her hand up to her face to brush away the sleep that had settled itself in her face.

A passing glance at her hand, and her ring glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. Another thought crossed her mind… she glanced at her palm. Nothing was there. Not a single scratch. The only lines that crossed her palm were the creases from a lifetime of using her hands.

"I'm going to take a shower," Donna remarked as she stood up, her head feeling a little empty this afternoon.

After assuring she'd locked the bathroom door behind her, she started to examine her abdomen, seeking out marks that she almost expected to see there. There was absolutely no trace of what she thought she'd find there. If anything, she had lost some weight.

She then turned her focuses to her face. The eyes that looked back at her looked tired, but then again, she was always tired. Her hair was the same red, maybe a little longer than the last time she'd examined it in great detail. There was nothing notably different about her. She was still the same Donna Temple-Noble, the same woman from Chiswick, the same wife of Shaun Temple, daughter of Sylvia Mott-Noble and Jeff Noble, and the sole granddaughter to Wilfred Mott.

But she didn't think she was just that.

No. She wasn't just that.

But if she wasn't that, what was she?

Oh, this is daft, she thought to herself. It's the wrong time to be getting philosophical in the bathroom.

And with that, she forgot about the matter completely.


	21. Days After Atlantis: Part 1

A/N: Here is the start of the next part, Days After Atlantis (I have a particular knack for titling these things). I've been posting a large volume of chapters because I really want to get it all posted, but I don't want to inundate everyone with the updates _too_ much. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Part One

Emily was three weeks old when her father regenerated into his eleventh incarnation. She would never know the same Doctor that her mother had, the Doctor whose eyes she shared, or had been handed so he might cut the umbilical cord just seconds after she was born. She would know the man with a defiant belief that bowties were cool as her Doctor. He, however, would always know who her first Doctor was though.

Fortunately, when the regeneration occurred, Emily was safely accounted for with Martha, who had been ready, with arms open, to take the baby when the Doctor called her mobile. The sound of desperation in his voice had told Martha everything she needed to know. She had raced over to the park by her house, ready to take the baby and aid in the Doctor's regeneration as much as she could.

Martha had been an absolute saint, nearly becoming a mothering figure to the Doctor when he'd shown up on her doorstep nearly three weeks earlier, sobbing over the loss of Donna and toting a baby carrier with a sleeping infant. Martha had taken Emily from the Doctor and had led him into a spare bedroom, telling him to sleep and not to worry about Emily.

The Doctor slept for almost twenty-four hours before he realized that he was in a strange bed in a strange house and forgetting something rather important.

Those last few weeks had been absolutely hellish for the Doctor, who was consumed with worry and guilt, matters only exacerbated by the fact that Emily was refusing to sleep or feed from a bottle. She would eat, but only if she were very hungry, because she had quickly gotten used to Donna breastfeeding her and Emily was not ready to accommodate the situation. As for getting Emily to sleep, Martha had discovered that Emily was lulled by the sound of a dishwasher or a washing machine. It was amazing how much laundry Martha had managed to get done while the Doctor was staying at her home and how clean her kitchen was.

With all the stress and grief that was attacking the Doctor, it was no wonder that the Doctor regenerated somewhat unexpectedly. All of the emotions that were zooming through him were bound to take their toll somehow. It was rather strange, the circumstances that had spurred it on. He had been at Tesco's, getting supplies for Emily, and had slipped on a wet spot in the middle of an aisle. He'd hit his head rather forcefully and had gone unconscious. When he awoke, he could sense that something was not right, so he hurried to the TARDIS and phoned Martha, who had dropped everything to go help.

There were things a Gallifreyan child needed to learn in his or her youth, but the Doctor knew that Emily did not need to witness such things at such a young age. She was already very alert to the world, already able to process things in ways that no normal newborn could process, and would instantly find much to be upset about in her father's regeneration.

He was very glad that Emily was not in the TARDIS when it crashed. It was dangerous for him, let alone an infant. He stayed far from Martha's house for a few days, until he was certain that the regeneration process was complete, at which point he returned to collect Emily and considered filing a complaint with the clean-up crew at Tesco's.


	22. Days After Atlantis: Part 2

Part Two

Nearly five weeks later, the TARDIS landed in a small seaside village in the 51st century. The Doctor was surprised that the 51st century had small seaside villages, but decided that this was a safe enough place to take Emily, now that she was almost two months old. Since she was the product of both the Doctor and Donna, he could tell that her thirst for knowledge would be nearly insatiable, and the Doctor was utterly convinced that he would find her setting coordinates for planets by the time she was three.

He peered out the front door of the TARDIS, visually verifying that they hadn't just landed in the midst of a brutal civil war. All clear. Though, off in the distance, there was a beautiful little cottage that nagged at the Doctor's fancy. He was drawn to this house, and he didn't know why until he turned to go gather Emily and her things and heard a voice that nearly made one of his hearts stop.

"Hello Sweetie," the woman crooned.

He turned around slowly and found River and her infectious grin behind him. "River…"

However, River was no longer interested in him. She strode across the room, gravitating towards the little redhead that the Doctor was tending to. "Who was daft enough to give you a baby?" she asked in surprise.

The Doctor smiled a little before looking back to Emily, who was watching River intently. "She's Donna's daughter," he explained.

River turned to face him with a look of interest. "Donna Noble?" she asked, apparently knowing the name.

He nodded sadly. "This is Emily, by the way."

River smiled at the little girl and looked back to him, trying to decipher his meaning. "I think this warrants an explanation," she informed him.

"Do you live here?" he asked, deflecting her statement.

River turned towards the doors. "Yes. I'm going to guess it's your first time being here?"

He nodded and she sighed. "Well, it's time to give you the grand tour."

River led the way out of the TARDIS and they walked across an open field to the cottage. Once inside, the Doctor was amused to see that River had decorated her house with artifacts from hundreds of centuries. It was a modern home, with the touches of the past strewn around the home. The walls were a bright blue, not quite the color of the TARDIS, but if it were darker, it would be. The Doctor could name the places where much of the furniture and décor had come from, giving him a strange comfortable feeling.

"Would you like me to take the baby?" River asked him.

He looked from River to Emily, who was busy gumming her left fist. Somehow, she'd managed to get her entire fist in her mouth and was quite happy to keep it there. "She's not fond of strangers, so don't be surprised if she starts to fuss," he warned as he handed his daughter to River.

He was surprised to find that Emily was asleep within minutes once River started walking her around the house. That was a rare occurrence, but maybe Emily could sense that River was someone she could trust, meaning that she was someone the Doctor could trust.

"She never does that," he finally felt compelled to remark. "She's always very uncomfortable with people she's never met before."

River looked down at the little girl in her arms. "I bet this is the first time you've been to a normal planet without war," she answered.

"We've been on Earth for the most part," he explained.

River raised her eyebrows at him. "Normal planet, sure, but not without war," she added.

He laughed gently and continued to look around the house, which, like the TARDIS, appeared to be larger on the inside. But, unlike the TARDIS, it was only because the house extended out from the back, the part that he hadn't seen from the place the TARDIS had parked.

The Doctor rather liked this house. It was a normal, proper home, with a beautiful view of the ocean and lots of open space all around. It maintained a calming effect, perhaps from the ambience that River had established in décor, perhaps from the landscape around. If he were insane, he'd even contemplate asking River if he and Emily could hang their hats on the rack and stay for some time.


	23. Days After Atlantis: Part 3

Part Three

He eventually found the insanity needed to ask River if they could stay indefinitely about two trips to the house later. It was only a month after they had first dropped off here, but he felt that the sooner they had some stability, the better off Emily would be.

Funnily enough, it hadn't been him to suggest the idea. It was River, who noticed that he kept looking around the cottage in such a longing that she supposed that it was perhaps because he had finally found a place to kick his boots off and settle down for a while. "Doctor, you keep looking around at my house like you want to eat it or something," she remarked one evening after the dinner she had made.

He laughed and took a sip of tea that she had just handed him. Emily was asleep in the next room, so he kept his laughter quiet. "You have a lovely home. I am just wondering if the TARDIS would mind if I had her decorate a room like your house."

"Or, you could just live here," River suggested.

"Live here? With you? With the baby? You wouldn't mind that?"

"Yes, Sweetie, with me, with the baby, and no, I wouldn't mind that. In fact, it'd give me a little peace of mind, knowing that you weren't just running around the universe with a three month old baby. A little stability would do you good."

"Says she who goes running around the universe," he replied.

"I'm the one who has a house that doesn't go flying off to different galaxies."

She had a point. But he had a point too. "You sure you wouldn't mind? I mean, Emily and I are not exactly the best houseguests. Even the TARDIS is getting rather tired of us."

River pulled her legs up onto the chair she was sitting in, curling up to her knees. "You're hesitant because you're afraid of what it means," she observed.

"What makes you say that?"

"You feel like you'd be betraying Donna by moving on so quickly, so you're willing to stay rootless around the universe even though you need to slow down, perhaps stay in a place for longer than a day or so."

He may not have known River very well, but she certainly knew him. She knew him so well that she was able to know what he was thinking. "I did this to her, and now I can't repair what I've done wrong."

"But you can make sure that you do everything you can to make the future right. That's enough, is it not?" she asked. "If you can raise Emily to revere her mother, to understand the sacrifices Donna made for her, for you, would that be enough?"

"No. Hardly."

"But it's a start, right?"

He thought. "Yes. It might be."

Emily's cries came from the next room. River stood up before the Doctor could process that his daughter was crying, and went to walk into the room. Before she did, she turned to look at him. "I'm not a replacement for Donna. I could never replace someone that substantial. Additionally, I don't think Donna has been arrested and imprisoned in 27 galaxies for 67 different crimes. I'm hardly a good role model, but I know you, and like Donna, I know you need someone."

He followed her into the room. "But what if Donna needs me. I can't be in the future and on a different planet and help her. I have to stay close to her."

"Then stay on Earth."

"But Earth gets boring and I'll still need to go around, saving the universe."

"Then I'll just be a convenient baby-sitter."

"But what if something happens to you?"

River looked up from changing Emily. "I've got you. And other means of protection," she replied.

He didn't need to ask what those other means of protection were; he assumed they were all related to less-than-legal things. "What if something happens when you have Emily? At the same time that Donna needs me?"

"Then you have an interesting situation," she replied.

"I will have to think about it," the Doctor decided suddenly.

"Yes, please do. It's not a decision to make lightly," River remarked as she finished changing Emily.

He left the room and returned to the sofa in the other room. River returned to the other room soon after, bypassing the chair she had been in to go to the kitchen. "River?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you offering this?"

River returned to the room with a bottle in hand. "Hold that thought," she replied.

He held his thought until River brought Emily into the room and sat down to give her a bottle. "You've been hinting at it each time you've been here with her."

He hated how natural she looked as she fed Emily, and he hated how comfortable Emily was with River. It was wrong, it was all wrong. It was a betrayal to Donna to allow River to care for Emily, but it was also a betrayal to Emily for disallowing River to care for Emily. Donna simply could not care for Emily; it was not possible. However, he felt like he was taking the easy way out of this situation by having River help care for his daughter.

He regretted ever bringing Emily to this place, ever allowing River to hold Emily, ever allowing River to fall in love with his daughter. And he knew that River loved Emily simply by the way that she never complained about helping or doing the muck work of maintaining babies. If he needed to get away, he couldn't just take Emily and go, and also expect that there wouldn't be open wounds from doing that.

The anger was bubbling within him. And even though he wasn't an angry man, he let the anger explode within him. "Stop looking so natural when you do that," he cried out as he stood up abruptly to walk out.

He stormed out of the cottage, walked to the TARDIS and left.


	24. Days After Atlantis: Part 4

Part Four

In hindsight, leaving River's cottage was perhaps not the best idea the Doctor could come up with.

When he returned, nearly eight months had passed (he hadn't meant for it to be eight months… for him, it was only a matter of a few days or so), and he had met Amelia "Amy" Pond, and she had become his companion. Amy was a kind young woman—called him her "Raggedy Doctor"—who had a fiancé named Rory Williams. Rory was a lovable, bumbling man who was a nurse. Amy was a fiery spitball of energy and enthusiasm, perhaps what Donna would have been like if the Doctor had met Donna fifteen years earlier, which is why he liked Amy.

As the TARDIS materialized in the open field near River's cottage, River came walking out of the front door, holding Emily, who now had furiously curly, red hair, the same color as Donna's hair. When River strode over to the doors of the TARDIS, she wore a displeased look on her face. "You had better have a very good explanation for this," she growled as the Doctor followed Rory and Amy out of the TARDIS.

Both Amy and Rory looked at River with frightened interest. The Doctor's mouth dropped when he saw that Emily had grown. "How old is she now?" he asked immediately.

"Almost eleven months," River answered stiffly. "Here."

Emily started to fuss as she was handed over to her father. "Hi Emily," he said brightly, trying to spark some memory of him in her young mind.

Emily only stared back at him with solemn eyes. She was not a social child, something that the Doctor found curious, seeing as how her shyness didn't come through genetics. She did not like strangers, and he was most certainly a stranger to her. "River, does she remember me?"

River was busy looking around the TARDIS for something. "I don't think so," she called back. "Who are your friends?"

She now stuck her head out from the TARDIS, bracing herself on the doorframe. Rory and Amy were both watching her with interest. "Doctor, is this your daughter?" Amy asked with an edge of excitement in her tone.

He nodded. "This is my daughter, Emily. And River, my friends are Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Amy, Rory, this is River Song."

"Hello," the three new acquaintances said to one another.

River turned her focuses to the Doctor again. "Do you happen to have the key to my room on the TARDIS? I think I left something in here the last time I traveled with you."

"It should be in the door," he replied.

"Thank you," she remarked before stepping back into the TARDIS.


	25. Days After Atlantis: Part 5

Part Five

The Doctor sighed. River wasn't pleased with him, but he wasn't about to drag out the dirty laundry in front of Rory and Amy. He waited until River had found what she was looking for and then started to follow her as she strode across the open field to the house.

The Doctor followed River across the home to a room that was still bright like the rest of the house, but wasn't nearly as open or large as the room they had walked through when they first came inside. With further examination, he realized this was a nursery, decorated with a space theme in mind, complete with an accurate map of the constellations of this particular region of the universe on the ceiling. "I guess it's silly of me to ask if you intended on just leaving her here with me," River told the Doctor as he set Emily down in the crib and turned back to face her.

He stood in awe, looking around this room that was so unlike what he'd imagined Emily's nursery to look like. He'd assumed that it'd have more bits and bobs from the TARDIS or maybe even a few trinkets from their many travels around the universe. Instead, it was a proper nursery with proper baby things in a proper cottage in a properly safe place. "I'm sorry… I am oh, so sorry."

"Tell that to your daughter," River replied, her anger seeming to be absent from her voice.

"She's grown so much. She's very smart, I can tell."

River made a noise of agreement and turned back to Emily who was sitting in the crib, fascinated with a strange, five-eyed, seven-legged green stuffed animal with pink spikes along each side of its back and a nose like an elephant. She started patting it inquisitively, not sure of what she should make of this. Eventually, she started to pat it more enthusiastically and started squealing in excitement.

He was fascinated with Emily's gleeful reaction to the stuffed toy. "Where did you even get one of these? I had no idea that they made stuffed animals of the Rexahexatalions."

"We found it on Earlivan, visiting my sister when we went there a few months ago. Well, Emmy found it, and my sister got it for her," River explained.

Amy and Rory walked into the nursery. "River, this is an amazing house!"

River smiled as she placed a pile of little baby clothes into a shelf in the corner of the room. The Doctor took note as to how focused and organized River seemed to be with regards to Emily. He assumed she had taken well to the idea that she was Emily's sole caregiver. "My family has owned this house for the last four generations. Each new generation adds something new to it."

"What have you added?" the Doctor asked.

"A place to park the TARDIS. You're destroying the meadow with your discombobulated parking jobs. Would you mind moving it to the designated area?"

The Doctor agreed by stepping out of the room. Amy followed him. "Is River your wife?" she asked eagerly, but in hushed tone.

"A parking spot for the TARDIS?" he asked, ignoring Amy's inquiries. "No one's ever designated an area for the TARDIS."

"Doctor… is she your wife?"

He only looked at her. "No. She's not."

"But you have a daughter," Amy pointed out.

"Not River's."

"Ooh… Doctor, I didn't know you were the kind of man to do such things. I guess the plot thickens," Amy giggled.

He threw her a look of exhaustion. "Emily's mother is my last companion, Donna. Donna…"

Amy's face became solemn. "Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't know that Donna died," she told him quietly.

He shook his head and put on a weak smile. "She's not dead. She just can't be with Emily and me right now. An accident happened in my last form that made her incapable of handling travel in the TARDIS. If she remembers me, she'll die. But, I'm working on how to fix her," he explained, a strange optimism arising in his voice.

"I can't imagine having to stay away from my child. Or taking away a parent of my child," Amy remarked.

"Pond, I hope you never have to experience that either," he said with a smile before letting her into the TARDIS.


	26. Days After Atlantis: Part 6

Part Six

The Doctor, Rory, and Amy stayed with River for a few days. Amy and Rory had begged the Doctor to let them stay for a little while so they could catch up on their sleep and explore the planet from the future.

While Amy and Rory were out one afternoon, the second day they were there, the Doctor decided it was time to make amends with River, who hadn't been ignoring him, but hadn't been exactly warm with him either. He walked into the kitchen to see River busy preparing dinner. He hadn't expected her to be so domestic. "Can we talk?" he asked.

She looked up and brushed back the hair that had fallen into her face. She nodded before resuming what she'd been doing before. Whatever she was preparing for dinner looked relatively like something found on Earth during the 21st century. When he didn't say anything, she looked up at him again. "Did you want to say anything?" she asked.

He shook himself to alertness. "Ah, yes…"

"Well?"

"She's been okay, right? No withdrawals, no major issues?"

"Just a few colds, lots of sleepless nights, and plenty of work," River assured him.

"No indication that she's not adjusting properly to the Time Lord-Human components of her physiology?"

"None that I can account for," River replied as she tossed carrots, or what looked to be carrots, into a large pot that stood on the counter next to her.

He nodded absently and sat down at one of the tall chairs next to the counter. "I saw Donna the other day. She looked strangely content."

"She doesn't remember anything that would make her discontent with her life," River pointed out.

"I know… but when it happened before, Wilf, her grandfather, told me that she seemed sad, like she didn't know what was missing, but there was something missing."

"Maybe you did a better job at erasing her memories this time around?"

"I don't know. Maybe she was sent back to a better place this time. I mean, she's got a husband, a home, a job, money, no reason to be sad."

"Well, it sounds like she's moved on. Like you."

"I haven't moved on," he retorted.

"What, then, do you call running about the universe with two young, hip, happening, twenty-somethings?"

"They are company, nothing more. They're not a replacement for Donna."

"Right. Speaking of replacements… just as I'm not a replacement for Donna, I'm not your replacement either. You're going to have to care for your daughter at some point in her life."

"What have I missed?"

"Too much," River replied, with nothing more.

The silence could have been sliced a few ways like the veggies that River was cutting up. The Doctor disliked idleness. "Oh… in case anything ever happens to me, like I die or something, I need you to tell Emily something?"

"What's that?"

"My name."

"Why's that?"

"It is how we pass along our oral tradition. Through names and such. At some point, I'll need to get around to doing that."

"She's at your convenience in the nursery, why don't you just go tell her yourself?"

"No, no, no, no… it's a rite of passage thing. I can't tell her until she's of the right age."

"And what age might that be? 154?"

"It's actually 17."

"Well, I'll take note. What do I tell her?"

"I'll write it down for you in the journal."

"What journal?"

"The journal… the blue journal? The Spoilers book?"

"I know of no such thing," River replied.

"Really? It's never come into your hands?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Doctor."

"I'm sure I left it here with Emily when we came her the second time."

River's eyes brightened. "Oh! Donna's book," she exclaimed.

She put down the knife and wiped her hands off on a towel. "Let me go get it," she told him before hurrying off to another room of the house.

River returned with the book and thumbed to the next clean page. "Here," she said, handing it over to him with a smile. "Write the name."

And so he did.

Emily would be the first of his children to have this tradition passed along to her if she had a long, prosperous life without tumult, just as the Doctor anticipated for her.


	27. Days After Atlantis: Part 7

Part Seven

Upon giving River his name in the journal, the Doctor made the conscious decision to stay with River and Emily. He'd been alarmed when Emily had maneuvered around the sitting room by keeping hold of furniture as she made little steps around the room, looking so proud of herself. It was this drastic change in his daughter that brought to light that the progress of time was inescapable, even for a man who was capable of making time work for him.

Amy had been disappointed that the Doctor wanted to stay with River and Emily, but completely understood it. She and Rory were starting to feel a little travel-weary themselves, but had never considered asking to stop travelling. "Doctor, are you going to stay here forever?" Amy had asked one morning after they had been back to River's house for the fourth time in a week, the ninety-third time in three months.

"I'd like to," he admitted. "Well… maybe not forever…"

"Are you going to keep travelling?" she then asked hesitantly.

"Of course," he said with a smile. "I've still got people to look after in different parts in the universe."

Amy sat down with her tea and toast, and watched the Doctor. "You haven't properly explained you and your life."

He laughed, finding joy in Amy's youth and enthusiasm. "I've had a long life full of excitement, sorrow, and happiness. I've met a lot of people who have come and gone, and I've lost a lot of things in my life. Emily's the one of the only things I have for certain right now. Emily and the TARDIS."

"What about River? She clearly loves you," Amy replied with a sip of her tea.

"River loves Emily. I'm loved by default because I'm Emily's father."

"No, I think she really does love you."

He said nothing, but rather pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started to fiddle with it. From the hallway across the room, some happy giggles could be heard and then the little thuds of Emily, who was now capable of running around and made full use of her abilities. Emily came bouncing into the room, her adorable curls jumping up and down as she ran away from River. "Emmy… you need to get dressed!" River called out happily.

Emily squealed as River caught up with her and lifted her up. Amy smiled at the scene as River pecked Emily on the cheek and then took her back into the nursery to get Emily dressed for the day.

Minutes later, Emily ran back into the room, now wearing shoes and a sweater. Her little shoes were making little thudding noises as they collided with the floor. Again, River was chasing after Emily. "Emily… you need to have something more than a sweater and trainers on…"

"How's the reasoning with a 14-month old Time Lord going?" the Doctor asked with a chuckle.

River laughed. "It's going quite well," she replied with the slightest hint of sarcasm.

It was clear that motherhood was something that River loved, so she was willing to take the frustration of having to deal with defiant toddlers. The Doctor appreciated this enthusiasm in River, knowing that he'd made a good choice in coming to River for help with Emily.

"Up!" Emily demanded brightly.

He swooped down to gather Emily, who seemed surprised that she had been caught, especially since she had come running to the Doctor to be picked up. "Good morning, Emmy," he said as he kissed her cheek.

Emily made a raspberry noise in return, and then tried to mimic her father's actions by giving the Doctor a very slobbery "kiss" by sticking her nose into his cheek and blowing more raspberries. The Doctor didn't know what to make of this.

Amy stood up to take Emily back to River so that Emily might end up dressed at some point throughout the morning. Emily had become acquainted with the visitors in her home, and especially liked Amy. Amy especially liked Emily, mainly because she was one of the few people in the universe that commanded such authority with the Doctor. The only other person who could command such authority was River, and Amy liked River.


	28. Days After Atlantis: Part 8

Part Eight

It was Emily's second birthday when the Doctor returned to the cottage alone. Amy and Rory had moved up and on with their lives for the time being and it was best that the Doctor head on back to where he was meant to be. But first, he'd had to deal with a few unsightly pests before he could collapse onto the couch and spend a few hours talking to River, as he'd become accustomed to doing in these last few months.

It seemed like a longer trek than he'd imagined, from the TARDIS parking pad, that River insisted he park the TARDIS on, to the house. The Doctor was glad to finally be out of that sticky situation he had been in. There had been an attack of one-eyed, four-legged, flying-purple-people eaters, and he had to figure out how to stop their attack. He had also forgotten that the creatures existed, forgetting the origins of the song, and was just as surprised as most would be to know that they were out for revenge. Who knew?

He could hardly pilot the TARDIS fast enough back to the 51st century, back to River and Emily. The TARDIS wanted to get back to Emily as much as the Doctor, but it was possible to go only so fast through time and space and arrive at the accurate time and place. Both held faith in River's skills of caring for a child, but that didn't quell any of the concerns that came with leaving the baby while running away to gallivant about the universe.

The Doctor parked the TARDIS a few hundred meters away from the house in the designated area and nearly dashed across the lawn to the door. Knocking quickly, he felt the anxiety and anticipation build up in him. Why wasn't River answering the door as quickly as she could?

He knocked again, more rapidly and louder. River answered the door with a stern look on her face. "Look what you've done," she sighed with exhaustion.

Emily's cries could be heard from the other room. "Oh… sorry," he murmured as he walked in the door, past River, to get to Emily.

"It took ages to get her to go to sleep, and now she's awake again," River muttered as she followed him.

Upon entering the room, his heart sank as he saw his little girl with watery eyes and the most dismal disposition about her. For the briefest of moments, he saw flashes of Donna through her tears, stabbing his hearts with memories he had tried so fervently to suppress with filling every aspect of his life with Emily. To swipe these memories off of his brain, he lifted the toddler up and started to shush her as he walked around the room, trying to lull her to sleep.

He didn't notice when River left the room.

Twenty minutes upon returning to the cottage, Emily was asleep and the Doctor was about ready to fall asleep himself. He carefully exited the nursery, closing the door behind him, and strode down the hallway to where River's study was. He suspected that she would be in there, piecing together pieces of history for whatever project she was working on now.

"Sorry about that," he murmured as he walked into the room and took a seat in one of the oversized chairs.

River looked up from the book she was reading from and smiled weakly. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time it's happened, and it's certainly not the last time it will happen. I've done it more times than I can count."

She went back to reading, occasionally scribbling down notes in a large, brown, leather bound book. "You're mulling something…" River muttered as she continued to take notes.

"Mulling what?" he asked her.

"I'm not the telepath."

"But how can you tell I'm mulling something if you're not a telepath?" he quizzed her.

"You've got that look on your face." She looked up at him and pointed at him. "That one."

He brought his hands up to his face to feel what she was talking about, and then dragged his fingers down his face, painting away the expression he wore. "She reminds me so much of Donna," he finally said quietly.

She blinked a few times and then draped a ribbon across the large book she was writing in to mark her place for when she closed it. As much as she understood the circumstances, there was still this nagging need for the Doctor and Emily to be hers. And yet, she was fully aware who owned the man and the baby that was suddenly growing up.

"You were telling me that you will see Donna again," River reminded him. "Jack said that Emmy would have a cure figured out for Donna."

"I know… I just wish I knew when I'll see her again, and she'll know who I am. I don't want to wait forever…"

River went back to working, trying not to focus too much on the fact that her emotions were getting the better of her. He was Donna's, and she was just keeping him for her until she was ready.

It truly was difficult being the keeper without actually getting to keep the thing being kept.

Damn those Appares Acwinians. Damn them and their monogamous ideals. Damn the Daleks too…

Maybe if life and time and fate were fair, everyone'd get what they want and be happy.


	29. Days After Atlantis: Part 9

Part Nine

The Doctor determined it was time for Emily to meet Wilf and Sylvia. He'd seen Wilf and Sylvia since he'd regenerated, feeling that this was the safest way to keep an eye on Donna. They hadn't seen him though. He'd seen Donna too—she'd been laughing and gossiping about something or another, completely unaware that she'd once had this fantastic life. When the Doctor saw Donna about eleven months earlier, his wounds were still fresh, but they were starting to scar over. It didn't mean that he didn't miss her; the longing for her was still a little too much to bear, but he now had other focuses.

Such as Emily.

Emily was now nearing three. The last three years had seemed to be a blur for him, but then, he realized, that was because Emily particularly enjoyed running. Sometimes, all you could see of her were blurs. He and River wondered if Emily could do anything other than run.

She had quite the vocabulary too. One afternoon, the Doctor, River, and Emily had gone to a planet, a very flat planet that had absolutely no geographic feature other than flatness. After they had all died of boredom, Emily turned to them as she bounded onto the TARDIS, and said, in complete seriousness: "Daddy, that planet was undeniably preposterous."

Beyond the running and impressive vocabulary, Emily was nearly the perfect blend of Donna and the Doctor's tenth incarnation. Emily's eyes were becoming bluer, her hair becoming browner, and she was all legs. She had Donna's humanity (in more ways than the obvious) and the Time Lord consciousness. She was a force to be reckoned with, and the Doctor prayed for any poor soul that ever crossed Emily. Her temper tantrums had been absolutely dreadful and there had been moments that the Doctor and River had seriously contemplated sending Emily off into space in an escape pod.

River had started to change too. At first, it'd been subtle, little things that struck the Doctor as odd came to light every now and then. A glint in her eye, an odd inflection in her voice, strange things to hear from River… it all made sense when the Doctor realized that River wasn't telling him something.

"When do you think would be a good time to land in the 21st century?" the Doctor asked River one morning while she was brushing her teeth.

Her hair was pulled onto the top of her head and she was wearing a robe over her nightgown. "Doctor… I'm otherwise occupied," she squeaked as she closed the bathroom door in his face.

"But when do you think would be a good time to take Emily… I want her to meet her grandmother and great-grandfather," the Doctor said through the door.

"Oh, I don't know… maybe three years after you left Donna?" River suggested with a sigh.

She wiped her face and opened the door again. "Why are you so fixated on this? You're supposed to be the Time Lord."

"I want it to be perfect, and I don't want any trouble with Emmy."

"Well, Emmy's just trouble in herself… you know what she did the other day?"

"What?"

"She managed to reorganize all of the books in my study based on the very first words of the books. I had had them organized based on subject, but now, I have no idea where my Arebequian archaeological textbooks from university are, and I need them."

"I'll take a look later," the Doctor promised her. "Even so… when might be a gentle place to go? Something nice and easy, not suspecting or prone to impending alien attacks."

"June might be a good time to go," River suggested after a moment of consideration. "Now, can I continue getting ready in peace?"

"Yes, sorry. Thank you," he said as he walked out of the room.

He managed to walk back into River's room, almost to the doorway before he turned back and walked towards the bathroom once more. "What is that?" he asked her, gesturing vaguely at her person.

"What's what?" she asked, pulling at the creases at her robe.

"That," he said, now pointing at the pockets of her robe.

She patted her pockets and shook her head in confusion. "There's nothing there," she informed him.

"No… but there is. I don't know what it is, but there's something different… something about you is different. And it's not the haircut, which, I noticed last week, but said nothing about because I don't rather like it, but it's different than that."

He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and started fiddling with the settings to figure out what it is he was looking for. "Oh…" he said softly.

"What?"

"You weren't just talking about brushing your teeth when you said you were otherwise occupied," he replied softly. "How long?"

"How long since what?" River asked in exasperation.

"Have you noticed there's sort of a buzzing?" he asked, seeming to ignore her question.

"Buzzing… no. Doctor, what are you talking about?"

"What's his name?" he asked her quietly.

"Eliasgorianos. We met a few years ago, before you and Emily came here," River replied hesitantly, suddenly understanding where this conversation was going.

"Eliasgorianos… that's a mouthful, isn't it?"

"I call him Eli."

"And you two obviously have been at it," he threw her a look, "for a while."

"Only a year or so. I have kept him away from Emily and Emily away from him. He has no idea that you or Emily exist. He and I meet occasionally on Poosh and don't worry… you're always taking care of Emily when I do that."

"And does he know?"

"Know what?"

"About the baby."

"What baby?"

"That buzzing…"

"Doctor, I hear no such thing."

"Right… Time Lord thing… sorry," he apologized as he started running scans on River with the sonic screwdriver again.

"What baby?" River asked again, now sounding desperate.

He looked up into her eyes. "Yours."

She looked taken aback. "No… that's not possible. We've been so careful… so, completely and utterly careful."

"Well, even the best protection isn't completely protective."

He cupped her shoulder and gave her a quick hug before walking out of the bathroom once more, leaving River alone. As soon as she knew he was out of earshot, she let out a small cry. She'd known about the baby for some time, almost four months now. It was only a matter time until the Doctor would notice the weight gain and, ultimately, a baby.

Of course, the news about the baby was wonderful and she was thrilled about becoming a mother. She just didn't want to have to explain to the Doctor that Eli didn't want anything to do with her or the baby. All that she'd done to try to have what the Doctor had, and now, she was sort of in the same situation as the Doctor: a single parent to a very strange child. She got exactly what she wanted, in a very strange, backwards sort of way.


	30. Days After Atlantis: Part 10

Part Ten

Emily came walking into the kitchen where the Doctor was working on repairing his radiation goggles and River was making dinner. The discussion in the bathroom earlier that day had put aside any trips to Earth, and neither the Doctor nor River had initiated any further conversation about River's condition.

"Daddy… can I make Mr. Snuffle-Waffles into a real Rexahexatalion?"

The Doctor exchanged a sly look at River, who sent him a knowing smile. "How do you propose doing this, Emmy?"

"The Chameleon Arch," Emily suggested hopefully. "I know he hasn't got any DNA… but maybe all that stuff inside him can help him become real."

Emily's sweet little face stared at the Doctor, waiting for her father to answer her, but the Doctor remained silent. He was busy contemplating something for a few moments, but was suddenly flooded with realization. The Doctor jumped up and hugged Emily, who looked confused. "Daddy? Did I do something good?"

He looked into his daughter's eyes and nodded earnestly. "Yes, oh yes, you did Emmy… you've just saved Mummy!" he cried out enthusiastically.

"But Mummy doesn't need saving. She's cutting up carrots in the kitchen. Unless… oh no… I knew carrots were evil…"

"No, not River, your mum, Donna Noble, the most important woman in the universe," he explained with newfound pride for his daughter and an overwhelming excitement.

"But my mummy isn't named Donna Noble… her name is River," Emily explained, trying to make sense of the matter, which, admittedly, would be rather difficult for any three year old, especially one who had been tossed about the universe since a few days after she was born.

The Doctor knew this conversation would happen sooner or later, though he had never actually planned out what he would say to explain this matter to his little daughter. "Emmy, your mum, Donna, wasn't able to take care of you. I had to take her back to Earth, back to her home, and she has to stay there, or else she will not be safe. Her brain isn't stable enough to handle the world we live in, with the TARDIS, and time travel, and adventures. An accident happened before you were born that made it so that she can never know about us."

"Then how did I get born?" she asked.

He smiled at her incorrect usage, but felt it was not necessary to correct her. "Fate happened. One day, it will all make sense to you because I will be able to explain it better," he promised.

And with that, Emily appeared to be satisfied with the explanation, and ran off to go play.

River poked her head out of the kitchen. "That was a rubbish explanation, you know that, right?" she informed him.

He turned to look at her and he shrugged. "How do you even go about telling a three-year-old something like that? I mean, she's smart, but she can't even zip up her sweater by herself yet or drink from a normal cup without spilling on herself, let alone understand the complexities of the human mind and all the rules of the universe."

River only looked at him with a sad look on her face. "She thinks of me as her Mummy," she stated.

"Yeah…"

"All that time I've been trying to explain it to her, and she just doesn't understand."

"She's three."

"I know, but that just goes to show, it doesn't matter what title you put on it, it's still going to be the same thing in the end."

"Well, for all intents and purposes, you are her mother. You've raised her, after all."

"But I don't want to be called that. It makes it sound like I've actually got a right at all to her, which I don't. She's not mine to claim."

The Doctor didn't know what to say to that. He only hoped that River would understand when Donna took her place that even though Donna would take on most of River's responsibilities, Emily would still know River to be a mother-like presence in her life. He knew that Emily had claimed River as her own ages earlier and there was nothing more to determine.

Almost as if on cue, Emily returned to the room. "I will call you Mimmy," she informed River before leaving the room again.

The Doctor laughed. "See… you're her Mimmy."

"It still means the same thing," River pointed out, but still smiled at Emily's efforts at trying to make sense of her very strange little world.

The Doctor fell silent before speaking once again. "River, she doesn't care that you're not related to her. You're still her mother; you're still the one who has been there since the near beginning. She doesn't know anything else."

"That doesn't make it any easier, Doctor. All the support and love in the world doesn't make her mine. And that's the worst part of this, Doctor… she's not mine. There's really nothing else I can say about the matter except that."

It was silent once again. He watched her for a slight moment and then made a move to walk out of the kitchen. Before he did, he stopped in the doorway and turned to look behind him.

"She may not be yours, but you're certainly hers. You're her Mimmy, after all."


	31. Days After Atlantis: Part 11

Part Eleven

"Daddy, where are we going?" Emily asked as she kicked her little legs back and forth in boredom, against the pilot's seat of the TARDIS.

River had strapped her into the car seat that the Doctor had attached to the pilot's seat so Emily wouldn't go flying about the TARDIS. River was seated next to Emily and was busy fussing with that One Bit of Hair That Just Would Not Stay Flat. The hair, after River had tried rearranging Emily's curls numerous times, refused to stay flat, so Emily had a rogue curl sticking up on her head.

The Doctor came over to the little girl and grinned. "We're going to go save your Mum."

He then promptly *booped* her on the nose and then twirled around to start fiddling with some gears. "He's silly, isn't he?" River asked Emily, who nodded earnestly.

"Did you call Wilf?" River asked the Doctor.

He shook his head. "Should I?"

"Probably wouldn't be a bad idea… to make sure that a, it's not a dangerous place and time, and b, he's expecting us."

He touched his nose and then nodded. "Ah… good point."

"Mimmy?," Emily asked River, now using the new term she'd concocted for River to distinguish between Donna and River.

"Yes, Emmy?"

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to Earth."

"But Earth is boring."

River looked at the Doctor, who was now telephoning Wilf. "She's definitely your kid," she remarked before pulling Emily's head in for a little kiss.

He smiled as he waited for Wilf to answer the phone. When Wilf did answer, he nearly cried out in delight. "Hullo?" Wilf asked in confusion.

"Wilfred Mott! How are you?" the Doctor called out cheerfully.

"Doctor?"

"The one and only! Wilfred Mott, it is so wonderful to hear your voice."

"Doctor… wow… I definitely wasn't expecting this phone call. But I'm glad that I've got you on the line. How are you?"

"I'm brilliant! And I'm wondering if I could pop by and check in on things," he chirped, suddenly on the top of heaven with his excitement about fixing Donna.

Wilf made a noise of confusion and the Doctor could hear some talking in the background, but couldn't make out the words. "Wilf?"

"Um… yeah?"

"Is it okay? We're kind of on our way as it is."

"We?"

"Oh… yeah, I've got a few people I want you to meet," he informed Wilf.

"Well, the thing is, Donna's here."

The Doctor's face fell, but then jumped back into his happy grin. River had been watching him intently, and stood up to walk over to him. "What?" she mouthed.

"Well… I've still got a pretty good cover as John Smith, right?"

"Well, it's a little strange that her mum and I've got several friends named John Smith. Maybe another name, since you know… you've changed over, right?"

"Right. I see your point. Well… what options do I have?"

"We haven't got any friends named Hank. Hank is a good name."

The Doctor made a noise of disgust. River, apparently aware of what was going on, also pulled a face of dislike. "Josiah…" the Doctor suggested.

"Song?" River supplied.

"No," the Doctor said to River. "She knows your last name."

"How about Collins?" River suggested. "My mum's surname."

"Josiah Collins," the Doctor determined as he nodded at River in thanks.

She shrugged and threw a wink. Wilf cleared his throat. "Well, I guess that would be fine. And these people you've got for me to meet… how many are there?"

"Just two," the Doctor said, looking to River and then Emily. "They're really excited to meet you."

"Okay. I'll warn Sylvia and put the kettle on."

"Thanks Wilf. We'll see you soon," the Doctor promised him before hanging up.

He turned to River. "Thank you so much for what you've done for us in the last few years," he told her.

"You make it sound like I'm going to disappear forever. I'll only be gone most of the time, but I'll still check in on you two," she said as she straightened his bowtie followed with an affectionate pat.

If she was going to lose Emily and the Doctor, she was going to lose them on her terms, not his.


	32. Days After Atlantis: Part 12

Part Twelve

Chiswick was as Chiswick-y as ever. The houses were all neat and tidy as the Doctor remembered, and there were the sounds of children as they played in their front yards. The Doctor, River, and Emily all stepped out of the TARDIS, landed away from Sylvia's house to deter any flashbacks from Donna.

The two adults and busy three-year-old walked over to the house that the Doctor remembered with a slight sadness. He knocked on the door as soon as they reached the door. Wilf was at the door, wearing a cautious grin, but when the Doctor wrapped him into a hug, he returned the gesture warmly. "Doctor, it's so wonderful to see you again. Different body, you look younger," he remarked quietly.

"Wilf, it's my pleasure. Oh, and these two…" the Doctor said, turning to River, who was holding Emily in front of her because Emily was wont to go running off to explore.

River stepped forward and shook Wilf's hand. "I'm Charlotte Barron. This is Emily," she explained with a smile.

"Who are you really?" Wilf asked with a smile.

"Josiah and Charlotte Collins," the Doctor told him with knowing look. "Charlotte is stubborn about her last name sometimes… refuses to take mine sometimes… says it's too traditional for her tastes."

Emily stood on her tiptoes trying to see around Wilf. "Mimmy, I want to go explore!" she said quietly.

"Emmy, shush," River said with a little tap on Emily's nose.

Wilf smiled at the little girl, looking at the Doctor in interest, before letting them into the house. Once they got inside, they were greeted by Sylvia, who looked confused about the identities of the houseguests that had just made their entrance. "Um… Dad… who are these people?" she asked quietly.

"These people are the Collins family. Josiah, Charlotte, and Emily. This is my daughter, Sylvia," Wilf said before leaning over to Sylvia to talk in her ear. "He's the Doctor."

Sylvia's eyes widened. "No! You can't be here! You, shoo!" she hissed at him like he was a rabid squirrel or something. "What the hell happened to you anyway… did you get plastic surgery?"

He held up his hands at her. "It's called regeneration… my race can do that. And I think she'll be okay… she won't recognize me like this."

"I still don't want you here."

"Sylvia, I understand that…"

"Good. Now, leave."

"But I've got to see her," the Doctor told her.

"You've done quite enough. Leave us alone."

Emily only watched Sylvia with interest. "You're not very nice to my daddy," she remarked.

Sylvia dropped her hands and eyes to look at Emily, who was standing in front of her, with her head cocked to the side, so that all of her curls were leaning to the left. "Why are you being mean to him?" Emily asked sweetly.

Sylvia's eyes flicked up to River, who was watching Sylvia. "She yours?" Sylvia asked in interest. "I didn't know that… he… could breed."

The Doctor touched Sylvia's shoulder. "We need to have a little chat at some point."

"Mum… I need a little help in here," a voice called out from the hallway.

The Doctor stopped dead and turned to River. River was busy with a communicator. "I've got to go," she whispered to him when she realized he was watching her. "I've just gotten a job at that site I was telling you about."

"Have you got the proper transport?" he asked her hastily, still listening for Donna.

She held up her wrist, revealing the Vortex Manipulator. "I'll make do, and I'll see you back at home," she assured him before she stepped outside and then vanished.

Wilf looked startled, but then eased when Donna walked into the room. She was holding a small bundle and looked exhausted. "Mum?" she asked. "Why didn't you come help me? What is keeping you…? Oh. Hi there."

"Hello," the Doctor replied. "You've got a little, little one, haven't you?"

"Yeah, just a few days old actually. Marissa," Donna said, a grin washing over her face as she remarked about her daughter.

"My first great-granddaughter," Wilf remarked as he walked over to Donna and put his arm around her to get a better look at the baby. "They tried for ages to have a baby, and now look at this… they've got a beautiful little girl."

Donna turned to Sylvia. "Mum, can you come help me with the baby? She's not going to sleep."

Sylvia led Donna back to where she'd come from, leaving Wilf, the Doctor, and Emily downstairs. "Doctor?" Wilf asked, noting that the Doctor had gone very pale.

He didn't respond until Emily pulled at his trousers. "Daddy, the nice man called your name."

"What? Oh… yes, sorry, so sorry Wilf…"

"Are you okay?" Wilf asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Yeah… I… I think I'm fine. I'll… yeah, Emily and I are going to go. So sorry to bother you guys right now. I know how things are going right now, and I know you don't need me bothering. Emily and I are leaving now. It was nice to see you again," the Doctor rambled as he took Emily's hand and started for the door.

"Doctor… something tells me you were here for a really good reason."

The Doctor stopped. "Yeah… something like that."

Wilf didn't know if he'd live to see the Doctor again when he heard the TARDIS engines start up and then the inevitable silence that followed.


	33. Days After Atlantis: Part 13

Part Thirteen

Upon arrival home, the Doctor felt like someone had shot him, sewn him up and healed him, then promptly shot him again.

He had the cure for Donna. Granted, it was fifteen years too early (based one what Jack had told him at the beginning of this little adventure he'd taken), but it was a cure, nonetheless. It was so simple it was stupid, but he'd gotten the cure for Donna. Take all of the Time Lord physiology from her using the Chameleon Arch, make her a human again, and she'd be cured. Sure, she'd endure the pain of what doing that involves, but if it meant that she could be with the Doctor and Emily again, he was sure that she'd do it. In a heartbeat.

But Donna had a child now. She'd elected to have that child with the husband she'd chosen. She didn't show any qualms about having a child with Shaun, and it was not right of the Doctor to give Donna back her abilities to travel with him when she would have to choose between her newborn daughter and husband and the Doctor and Emily. The Doctor and Emily could handle life without Donna for a little longer, but Shaun and Marissa had no such luxuries.

And so he would wait. He would wait for Donna and hope that by the time she could remember, he'd still be something she'd want.

But he hated waiting.

And he had (slightly) forgotten that River now was having a child of her own. When he did remember, it only added to the sorrow he had accumulated over time. He and River had more in common than he'd first thought. He figured it would be a long next few months.

And he hated waiting.

When River arrived home that night, she came running into the room as if she knew something was wrong. Emily was playing blissfully with Mr. Snuffle-Waffles, but the Doctor was sitting out on the veranda in the back of the house. "Doctor?" she called out, her voice laced with urgency.

"Out here," a small voice replied.

River stepped out onto the veranda with him. "Where is Donna?" she asked. "Were you not able to fix her?"

He shook his head. "She has a daughter now."

River let out a small noise of surprise as she sat down next to the Doctor. "Oh... sweetie," she sighed as she watched him.

"I'll be okay. I mean, it's not the end of the world... And believe me, I've seen that a few times... it's definitely not that."

"But it's Donna," River said.

"And I know she's fine."

"Doesn't make it any easier," she pointed out.

"Yeah. It doesn't."

"Then don't say it will be okay and brush it under a rug. It's not fair to Donna, it's not fair to Emily, and it's certainly not fair to you."

"I can't do anything until her daughter is old enough not to need Donna. Donna was serious about traveling with me forever."

He let out a long breath of air before doubling over and letting out a small sob. River didn't know what to do, so she remained where she was, but remained to herself. "Unless Donna has a whole pack of kids, the time you'll have to wait is about eighteen years, right?"

"Mmmhumm," he hummed through his thighs and tears.

"That's too long to wait."

"Mmmhummm," he hummed again.

Emily came skipping onto the veranda and stopped short when she saw her father in his strange position. When she heard his sobs, she cocked her head, sending all of her curls to one side of her head. "Daddy?" she asked. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

River was about to speak, but the Doctor sat up and sighed. "I stubbed my toe really hard," he lied. "Like you did two days ago."

"Owie," Emily remarked, seeming to wince at the pain that she remembered. "My toe still hurts. Mimmy, can you help me with my sweater? It's too complicated."

River nodded and pulled Emily towards her so she could help with the zippers. Why children's clothing in this century had to be so difficult was beyond the Doctor and River, but it was. This particular sweater, Emily loved it to bits, had four different zippers going all different directions. There were several panels to it, and whenever Emily tried to figure out the sweater herself, she had troubles getting all the zippers to the right place. She'd gotten better with the sweater, but sometimes, she'd mess up with one of the panels and need help. "There you go," River said as the last panel was zipped up properly.

"Thank you!" Emily chirped as she skipped off Mr. Snuffle-Waffles down the stairs of the veranda and into the grassy area between the house and the beach a little further down.

"You're welcome," River called after Emily before sighing and sitting back into her seat.

"We'll be fine," the Doctor remarked.

She turned to face him again. "What do you mean?"

"We may not have Donna, but we have you, and I think that's all we need right now."

"Please don't say that," River remarked. "It's already difficult as it is, and I don't like having the fact that I'm the stand-in rubbed in. I'm just helping. I'm not necessarily the stand in."

"You keep saying that, but we both know it's not true."

"Doctor, you love Donna..."

"I do love Donna. But, you're my best friend and the best support I could possibly imagine. I mean, how many people do you think would have changed their entire life for me and my situation?"

"Emily's your situation?"

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't. Please explain."

"Not many people would do what you have done."

"And with good reason. It's brutal sometimes."

"But it looks like it's working out. I mean, look at Emmy."

They both looked at Emily, who was now running around, flailing her arms and jumping. She was also singing, but they couldn't hear the song. It looked incredibly odd. "Maybe not the best representation of how well she's turned out," the Doctor remarked.

River kept watching Emily and shook her head as she stood up. "No... I think she's being chased by a bee," she said as she hurried down the steps to help Emily.

"Oh," the Doctor said quickly before letting out a quick, unexpected chuckle.

River and Emily stepped back up onto the veranda. "Emmy... why on earth would you think that's a good idea?" River asked.

"I didn't mean to!"

"I know, but you have to be careful! You could have gotten hurt," River scolded.

"I'm sorry Mimmy."

"I know. Why don't you and Mr. Snuffle-Waffles go play in the living room?"

"Okay. We wanted to read books anyway."

River remained standing until she could see Emily plunked on the couch with a book, at which point, she sat back down next to the Doctor. "What happened?"

"She found a beehive."

"I gathered. What did she do to it?"

"She tried to make all the bees her pet."

"Did she get stung?"

"No, but it's lucky that she didn't."

"Right."

They were silent once again, until the Doctor turned to face her. "When you came in, you seemed like you knew something was wrong. How did you know?"

"The TARDIS isn't parked on the landing spot like it normally is. I knew something is wrong, because you are usually very good about parking it there."

"Oh. Do you want me to move it?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "It's fine where it is for the moment."

He nodded absently and then drew in another long breath. "Well, today did not go as well as I had planned."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I can still be sorry."

He dissolved into tears again, but this time, River pulled him into a hug and let him cry. It proved effective with Emily, and as she'd learned, there weren't many differences between Emily and the Doctor.

Even though the pain would still be there for a very long time, they were going to be fine.


	34. Days After Atlantis: Part 14

Part Fourteen

The following months were rather neutral for the Doctor and his little pod. River's pregnancy progressed as any normal human pregnancy would, and Emily became excited about the fact that she would have a new friend to play with. Other than that, there were no signs of amplified happiness in the quiet cottage on the sea.

River was devastated for the Doctor. The happiness that had put a light in his eyes was now turned off again. Emily's sweet little gestures for her father didn't seem to bring that light to fruition as the prospect of having Donna in his life again had. Even sadder was the defeated look Emily would take on when the Doctor didn't liven up and become her madman with a box. When the Doctor retired the bowtie, River knew it was time to take action.

"You need to stop this," she said as she marched (waddled) into the room that the Doctor had taken up for tinkering with things. (He had been banned from the kitchen when he accidentally put potently toxic lubricating oil on his salad and had required a detox. It was not a pleasant experience for any party involved.)

He looked up from his table and saw only the bump before looking up at her face. She looked displeased. "You're not allowed to be like this to Emily. You're her father for goodness sake! You're supposed to be my partner in raising her, and instead, I'm raising you!" she cried out.

"Mimmy… Mr. Snuffle-Waffles' nose fell off again," Emily said, wandering into the room with her well-loved stuffed animal in two hands.

River sighed and turned to Emily. "What on earth do you do to that thing?"

"We were defeating the Daleks with his nose."

"What exactly did that entail?"

"Well, his nose shoots lasers, and since Mr. Snuffle-Waffles doesn't actually have lasers in his nose, I was trying to put lasers in his nose so he could have a proper laser shooter. Then, I couldn't find a laser shooter, so Mr. Snuffle-Waffles doesn't have a nose."

River sighed and moved to put her hands on the small of her back, trying to stretch out the discomforts of her eighth month of pregnancy. "I'll leave this to you," she muttered to the Doctor. "Try to explain to her that Mr. Snuffle-Waffles cannot shoot lasers."

She moved to walk out of the room. He watched her leave. "Does this mean our conversation is over?"

"Hardly. But this is more pressing… like this child on my bladder," she called behind her.

The Doctor then turned back to Emily. "Emmy… come here," he said as he lifted her up onto the work table. "You do know that Mr. Snuffle-Waffles can't actually shoot lasers, right?"

"But he actually can," Emily insisted. "He defeated the Daleks."

"Without a laser? Or a nose?"

"Well, he improvised by holding the laser shooter with his mouth."

"Why does he need a laser shooter?"

Emily sighed in exasperation. "Dad-dy… how else is he supposed to defeat the Daleks?" she asked with a sassy little shrug that featured her tiny fingers splayed out in frustration.

She was becoming more and more like Donna with each day that passed. For the same reasons he hated it, he loved it too. "Well, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles could use cleverness and trickery. Have you ever thought of that?" he asked her calmly.

"But what happens when that doesn't work? Cleverness and trickery only work for so long. At what point do lasers work?"

The Doctor blamed this mentality on River. Though, since Emily had been in her world, River had seriously cut back on her arms use. That did not mean that the Doctor didn't have a little deprogramming to do with Emily, because he was starting to see that he definitely had a little deprogramming to do.

"Try cleverness and trickery next time you defeat the Daleks," he suggested.

"Next time? Who said there'd be a next time? I thought I defeated them with Mr. Snuffle-Waffles."

"Ah, well, Daleks are a tricky race. They don't always disappear. Very hardy race, those Daleks. I've got to give them credit for that," he explained. "But seriously… don't try putting lasers into Mr. Snuffle-Waffles' nose. He doesn't like that his nose keeps being ripped off. I don't know if Mimmy likes putting his nose on again every time you take it off. How do you think Mr. Snuffle-Waffles would feel about that if he were real?"

"He would appreciate being able to shoot lasers," Emily replied before sliding off the table and onto the ground. "Mimmy needs to fix his nose though."

She skipped off, holding her stuffed animal in two hands. The Doctor laughed as she ran off, remembering a time when life was all about playtime and making stories up as you went. He knew that this was probably the only time in Emily's life where time would be fulfilled to its fullest capacity. Children had the innate talent to pull the most from time for their use and Emily was no different.

He then realized that maybe this was River's plan all along… get his daughter in there to cheer him up after River's given him a talking to, all in the name of getting him out of this delirium he'd found himself in after realizing he couldn't fix Donna when he wanted to, though he had all the means to.

River always knew how to keep him on his toes. And she made thorough use of this knowledge. It appeared that she had managed to teach Emily to do the same.


	35. Days After Atlantis: Part 15

Part Fifteen

River collapsed on the couch next to the Doctor after Emily was in bed. She let out a very heavy sigh, and then laughed quietly. "Why you let her have tea this afternoon is beyond me," River remarked. "Caffeinated drinks and a hyperactive four-year-old? Are you daft?"

He turned to her and held the sonic screwdriver, which he was fiddling with, up as if to point out his innocence. "In my defense, she was sly about it."

"Of course she was sly about it… she's your daughter. I'd think you'd know the tricks of your kind by now."

"You would think," he replied in consideration.

River pulled her legs up onto the couch and propped her head up on her left arm, her other hand drifting to poke at an elbow or knee that was protruding from the side of her belly. "As for this one," she began.

"Giving you grief?" he asked absently.

"Like you wouldn't believe. Personally, sometimes I think I'd like to have the 10-day deal Donna got."

He looked at her pointedly. "No, you don't. This is much more preferable… I promise."

The progress of the pregnancy had brought back memories of Appares Acwin for the Doctor, and though he would never admit it out loud, he much preferred this gestation over Donna's. Donna's had seemed too science-fiction-y for the Doctor, (too alien for the alien) when something as natural as having a child needed to take a more natural approach. He rather enjoyed River's lack of pain, how she actually seemed to enjoy being pregnant, whereas, Donna had been weakened by her pregnancy and seemed to resent being put in the position she was put in. He wished that Donna could have such a luxury, and secretly hoped that someday she could.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Hypothetically speaking, if you could, and if you were able to go and shag the brains out of Donna at this exact moment, would she get pregnant and have a normal term… months rather than days?"

"Probably," he replied. "But I don't see how that hypothetical situation helps anyone."

"Come to think of it," she sighed, "neither do I."

River closed her eyes and let another heavy sigh. She certainly didn't have quite as much energy as she thought she had for running after Emily all day and being pregnant. "Only another three and a half weeks," she remarked.

"And then you will lose all control because once they're out and in the world, well, there's really no stopping determined children."

She laughed. "I think I've gotten adequate practice with you and Emily."

"You would think," he replied before he had another thought. "Would you be up for going to 21st century Earth to visit Wilf?"

She opened one eye. "You really think that's a good idea, given that I've only got three and a half weeks left?"

"Dunno… might be a good idea to get out a little bit before you have the baby, because I don't think you'll want to go running around the universe too terribly after the baby's born."

"Well, when are you thinking of doing this?"

"I'd like to go tomorrow."

"And you're going to stick around this time instead of ditching at the first sign of trouble?"

"I have a different plan for talking to Wilf. I've lured him to the café where we met before for a cuppa."

"Oh, so this was something you've had planned," River realized.

"Yeah. Wilf needs to know about Emmy, and if possible, I'd like Emmy to know Wilf."

"What about Sylvia?"

"Oh, she'll certainly kill me in uniquely violent ways."

"I don't doubt it. She seemed like the kind of woman who is out to get you."

"She's really not that bad. She's got Donna's best interests at heart. Unfortunately, I just don't fit into those best interests. Never have, really."

There was a lull in conversation. "River?" he asked.

River didn't answer. The Doctor smiled as he heard soft snores from River. He stood up and put a blanket over her tired body and left the room.

Aside from the crippling depression he'd been experiencing since discovering Donna had a child with Shaun and he couldn't save her, he rather liked how things were going in his life. River was still River, still mysterious to him in ways that he couldn't explain, but she was nurturing to him and Emily. He did look forward to having a younger child around for Emily's sake, since she tended to get bored with being the only child in a very strange life that kept her moving from place and space to space and place. Another person in the universe that was like her, able to relate to her circumstances, would prove beneficial to Emily.

On the other hand, the Doctor had a few reservations about River's child. He was not sure what her plans were with raising her child, though he anticipated that he would play a rather prominent role in the upbringing of the new baby. Along with that, he couldn't tell why River had stuck around for so long, and secretly, he feared that she'd up and leave as soon as she had her own child. These reservations were minute compared to what he knew for certain: he'd felt guilty about relying on River for this long, but he knew how much she loved Emily and, as Amy had pointed out ages before, she loved him too.

She was his best friend, a title that Donna held in a different time. River was not a replacement for Donna by any means. She was completely different, completely herself.

And, as he realized, Donna had probably asked River to take Donna's place, to be Emily's surrogate mother. Maybe Donna had written something in the journal she'd found on Appares Acwin. If he didn't think River would beat him to a pulp for even, remotely, considering peeking in the journal, he would.

But he had enough sense not to, so he just retired to bed.


	36. Days After Atlantis: Part 16

Part Sixteen

When the Doctor awoke the following morning, Emily was busy making car noises and was driving something on his forehead. "Emily!" River's voice hissed. "Get your toy off of your father's face!"

He opened one eye to see Emily's intense blue eyes staring back at him. She jumped back a little before breaking into a grin. "He's awake, Mimmy. I can play with my hovercraft on his face after all."

"Emily…" River warned. "Let him sleep."

"But… but he's awake!"

"Emily Artemis…" River growled.

The Doctor felt the bed move slightly as Emily scurried away. He could tell that River sat down based on the next motion that the bed made. "Sorry about that," she murmured. "I might have let it slip that we're going on a trip today."

He grinned sleepily. "Are you up for it?" he asked her.

She inhaled deeply and shrugged. "I think so, I just don't want to stay here alone either."

"We don't have to make it an all-day affair. Just meet with Wilf and then head over to Torchwood's new headquarters."

"Wait… when did Torchwood come into this?"

"I've gotten a hold of Jack Harkness. He's apparently going to marry Emmy in the future… he still hasn't met her."

"I thought he was there the day she was born."

"And the day we brought Donna home, but that's beside the point. Emmy's changed quite a lot, and I think it's time that she met Jack."

"Well, if I need to, I'll just use the Vortex—"

"No, you won't."

"Doctor," River replied exasperatedly. "I can't just pop off in the TARDIS by myself if I want to go home."

"You know how dangerous using the Vortex Manipulator is at this stage of the pregnancy. What if something really bad happened?"

"It's got emergency protocols," she pointed out.

"Emergency protocols still don't make it any safer for you. In fact… where is the Vortex Manipulator?"

"I'm not telling you. I don't want to be stranded somewhere and you're not around to collect me."

"We won't be gone all day, I promise."

"I'm not talking about today. I'm talking in general."

"I'll give it back as soon as you have the baby. Until then… where is it?"

River sighed as she pulled it from her pocket. "As soon as the afterbirth is delivered, I fully expect this to be back in my possession."

The Doctor sat up and took the piece of technology from River. "I gather you're ready to go?" he asked her.

"Well… I've got to pack up a few things that the TARDIS doesn't have, and then yes, I'll be ready to go. Give me ten minutes?" River asked.

The Doctor nodded. "I'll meet you at the TARDIS."

River started to get up, but laughed when she couldn't. She'd even made sure that she was sitting so she could stand up. With a look of bemusement, she turned to the Doctor. "Help?"

He chuckled as he braced the small of her back and pushed her to her feet. "Thank you," she replied before leaving the room.

Ten minutes later, on the dot, the three time-travelers were on the TARDIS. Emily was in her car seat, River seated next to Emily, bracing herself against the chair so she didn't go flying across the console room when the Doctor started piloting the TARDIS like the madman with the bowtie that he was. The Doctor noted that River looked miserable. "Comfortable?" he asked with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… mock the fat lady… very funny," she snapped.

"Do you want to sit somewhere else?"

"Where, pray tell, do you suppose I do that?"

He looked around the room. "You do have a point. Why are there flippers over there?"

Emily clapped her hands cheerfully. "Those are mine! I want to try them out with Mr. Snuffle-Waffles. We're going swimming when we get home."

River turned to Emily. "We'll see," she remarked in a tone that indicated that Emily would not be swimming with Mr. Snuffle-Waffles with the flippers.

River braced herself once more and shrugged to the Doctor, indicating that she wasn't going to move to sit somewhere else and he could go. So, he did.

When they arrived to 21st century-Earth, Emily was nearly bouncing out of her skin. "Where are we going? Can we go? Daddy… let's go! Let's go!" she cried out.

As soon as she was lifted out of her car seat, she stood in place, even though River was trying to get Emily to move. "I have to go potty," Emily admitted sheepishly before running off to the nearest bathroom provided by the TARDIS.

When Emily returned, River rolled her eyes. "Now, I have to go," she muttered to the Doctor. "Don't wait up for me; I'll just use the communicator to find out where you two are."

The Doctor and Emily left River behind. The father-daughter duo walked out of the TARDIS, hand in hand, to the café that was located across the street. Emily, who was used to the meadow that surrounded their home, was intimidated by all the people who were passing by her. This intimidation was not doing much to help with Emily's tendencies to revert to shyness. "Daddy, why are there so many people on this planet?" she asked him.

"Humans like cities. It's not all like this," he promised her as they reached the door of the café.

Emily tried to help with opening the door, but she was just a hair too short to do so effectively. Instead, after the Doctor held open the door for a few other people coming out of the café, Emily ducked under his arm and into the café. The Doctor gently grabbed hold of the back of Emily's sweater to keep her from running into people and caught sight of Wilf. "Over here," he said as he guided her to Wilf's table.

Wilf grinned as he saw the Doctor and Emily walk over. "Doctor, I didn't know if I'd see you again," he admitted.

The Doctor hugged Wilf and herded Emily into the chair next to his intended spot. He sat down, promptly receiving a message on his communicator from River. "Oh… that's River. Hang on," the Doctor said as he stood up to walk out of the café.

"Daddy?" Emily asked, full of terror.

"It's okay, I'll be right back. Why don't you tell Mr. Mott about Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" he suggested as he glanced out the window, trying to find River.

Wilf smiled at the little girl who looked petrified of him. He couldn't help but notice that she looked exactly like Donna when Donna was Emily's age, but he knew better than to think that Donna was Emily's mother. They would have known if Donna had gone off and had a baby. The traces would have all been there. Plus, Wilf had seen Charlotte, or whatever her actual name was; he hadn't believed that the woman who had accompanied the Doctor before was named Charlotte Collins or Charlotte Barron.

"So, who is Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" Wilf asked, sensing the little girl's fright and hoping that asking her questions about whatever this thing was would ease some of her tenseness.

"Mr. Snuffle-Waffles is a Rexahexatalion. He's my best friend, but when the baby gets here, the baby will be my best friend. Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and I are going swimming when we get home. I found flippers on the TARDIS and Mr. Snuffle-Waffles likes swimming. And he likes attacking Daleks with laser shooters in his nose."

Wilf didn't even know what question to ask first. Knowing the Doctor, it was unlikely that Emily's best friend was a stuffed animal, and it was likely that this thing Emily talked about could actually shoot lasers with its nose. He vaguely remembered Daleks, but why a three or four or five year old would know about those malicious creatures was beyond what Wilf could understand. And then a baby… who was having these children with the Doctor? How did the Doctor become so domesticated?

But, Emily was not done. "One time, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and I were running away from the Adipose babies, because they're weird and squishy and Mr. Snuffle-Waffles doesn't like them, and we ran to the edge of the flowers, and we're not supposed to go there because Mimmy and Daddy say that there are lions out there, but I say that Mr. Snuffle-Waffles scares them so we can go play out there and we did, and it was fun and I found a little froggy that I named Hank Todd Bob, and Hank Todd Bob, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and me went playing in the flowers and then we found another frog and we decided to name it Louis Marcus Felipe, so it was Hank Todd Bob, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles, Louis Marcus Felipe and me and we started playing tag, and then a Dalek came out of the edge of the forest and then Louis Marcus Felipe died."

Emily drew in a long breath. "When Louis Marcus Felipe died, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and Hank Todd Bob were sad, so they decided to go find another friend, and when they did, we named it Boris Roberto Paolo, and we all started to go play in the big tree by the beach; I'm not allowed on the beach, Daddy says it is too dangerous, but Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and Hank Todd Bob and Boris Roberto Paolo are allowed to, so they went to the beach while I stayed in the tree, and I was sad because I was lonely, so I found another new friend, Shirley, who became my best friend while Mr. Snuffle-Waffles was best friends with Hank Todd Bob and Boris Roberto Paolo and they were at the beach; Shirley and I decided we were going to be Racnosses so we took sticks and made legs so we were like spiders and we ran around the front yard, but then Shirley fell and hurt herself and died, because froggies cannot be Racnosses and I was sad because Shirley was my new best friend and it is sad when things die."

Emily fell silent, apparently done with her story, which left her without words and her breath. She turned around in her chair and looked around, trying to find her parents, bored with Wilf.

Wilf was torn between laughter and shock. The little girl could talk and she made thorough use of her vocal capabilities. "Um… Emily, do you have any friends that aren't froggies or Rexahexta…"

"Rexahexatalions."

"Right, that. Do you have any friends like you?"

"Nope. Daddy and I are the only Time Lords left. Not even the baby is a Time Lord."

"No human friends?"

"Mimmy's human. Daddy says the baby is human too."

"Anyone your own age?"

"Nope. We don't go see many children. We go to boring planets and planets that are weird."

The Doctor and River walked into the café and made their way over to the table. River took the closest seat to the window, so she was out of the way but also could have an easy out if she needed to make a dash for the bathrooms. Wilf looked surprised. "Wow… Doctor, I didn't know that you had another bundle of joy on the way," he said in response to the bump.

River laughed as she leaned back in her chair some. "Our circumstances are rather unique," she remarked.

The Doctor nodded. "River and I are not married," he explained.

"Your name is River," Wilf half asked, half stated.

She nodded. "I had to change it because the Doctor said that Donna would remember my name… wait… why would she remember me?" she asked the Doctor.

"Um… spoilers?"

"Sweetie, you really are quite rubbish at this, you know that, right?"

"Sure," the Doctor replied stiffly. "Anyway… how is Donna doing?"

Wilf smiled and took a sip of his tea before a waitress came up to their table. "Hi, what can I get you?" she asked of the three new people at the table.

River spoke up first. "I will have some water and… this turkey sandwich that you have on special today. And can you cut it so that it's in two pieces? I'll be sharing the sandwich with the little girl, who will also have water."

"Mimmy… I want broccoli," Emily whispered.

The waitress smiled in confusion. "A small child wanting broccoli? I've never heard that before. I can have the people in the kitchen add broccoli for her," she explained.

River nodded in appreciation. "Okay, thank you. Doctor?"

"Um, some strong tea will be enough for me. Thanks," he added.

The waitress walked back to the kitchen and the focus turned back to Wilf. "Donna's doing well. Mari, Marissa, is about five months old now, and looks exactly like her dad. Doesn't look much like Donna, but that's because they used an egg donor."

River rubbed a corner that had appeared under her shirt absently. "An egg donor?"

"Yeah, they tried to have kids on their own after Donna had the surgery to have her tubes tied reversed. Fortunately, the tubes were still viable, but Donna just couldn't get pregnant. Finally, they went to a fertility specialist, and the specialist told them that Donna didn't have… oh, how did that specialist put it? Oh, right! He said that her eggs were all unviable and her uterus was inhospitable. Rather dismal if you ask me, but that's just how they put it. Donna was devastated, of course. She's always wanted to be pregnant, have kids, and the whole bit. So, they decided they were going to try an egg donor and implant in Donna. That didn't work. They did that a few times, and fortunately, they have the money to do all of that; it's expensive to do all those fertility treatments. As a last resort, they hired a surrogate and implanted in the surrogate, and now, fourteen months later, they have a beautiful little girl."

The Doctor and River listened with interest, both knowing that the underlying cause for Donna's fertility problems was sitting in between them, coloring on some kids' menu the waitress had brought by for her. They sat in silence until the waitress brought by their order. After giving their thanks, they all started into what they'd ordered. Emily immediately took to the broccoli and only ate the broccoli. "Do you want the other half of the sandwich?" River asked the Doctor, indicating that Emily wasn't going to eat it.

He shrugged. "Maybe have it wrapped up for later? You know you'll be hungry later."

River snorted in laughter. "That's true. I will be hungry later."

Wilf smiled absently as he watched the Doctor's little family. He wondered if the Doctor was happy. He appeared happy; he obviously was well-cared for by River, and River was obviously well-cared for by the Doctor. Emily was a sweet, well-mannered little girl who clearly had more imagination than she had time or focus for, and seemed to give her parents an easy time.

"You said that you two aren't married…" Wilf said out of nowhere.

The Doctor nodded. "Right. Not married."

"Why not? You two seem properly fit for each other."

"You see, I'm already married. Well… I've been married quite a few times, but I'm currently married."

River nodded. "And I can't see myself settling down and getting married. Even though I've got the baby on the way, I refuse to be completely domesticated."

"Who are you married to?" Wilf asked, finally opening the gates of communication that the Doctor had been waiting to pass through for the longest time.

"Well, Wilf, that's what I wanted to talk to you about…" the Doctor began, taking in a breath to prepare himself for what was to come.


	37. Days After Atlantis: Part 17

Part Seventeen

Unfortunately for Wilf, when Wilf had asked his question, the Doctor hadn't exactly been able to properly articulate his answer. The Doctor had started rambling for at least fifteen minutes about a whole slew of topics, none of which related to the original question. Fortunately for Wilf, River was there to translate.

"What the Doctor is trying to say, but isn't saying at all, is that Emily is Donna's daughter. Some random chance in time and space occurred and the Doctor and Donna ended up on the same planet at the same time, and they got married, and that's how Emily came to be."

"Donna wasn't gone for nine months though."

"No, she was only gone for thirteen, maybe fourteen days," River explained. "Her pregnancy with Emily only lasted ten days."

"But, I brought her back to Earth only a few hours after I figured she'd disappeared and made it look like she'd been taking a nap," the Doctor interjected.

Wilf's eyes darted back to Emily, who was oblivious to the fact that they were all talking about her. "I thought she looked like Donna," he remarked, suddenly breaking out into a grin. "Thank god Donna had a proper chance to pass on those fantastic genes."

The Doctor smiled and glanced at Emily, who was now scribbling into the paper. Well, it looked like scribbles. The Doctor was surprised that some of what she was scribbling was in fact, Old High Gallifreyan. He glanced at River, who smiled at him knowingly. "She's got fantastic genes," River agreed. "But that hair…"

"Donna's hair was the same exact way," Wilf laughed in sympathy.

"Do you think Sylvia should know?" the Doctor asked hesitantly.

Wilf took a sip from his mug and looked at the Doctor with a quizzical look. "Yes… but then again… no."

"Why is that?" River asked.

"You haven't gotten the chance to really meet Sylvia," the Doctor informed her. "Lovely woman, but she scares me some."

Wilf laughed again. He was over the moon, so much that he'd gone to Mars. The little girl who was sitting in front of him was his great-granddaughter, and he hadn't the slightest idea how to even remotely comprehend how Emily came to be, but he was determined to keep Emily a part of his life. "She should meet Sylvia. Sylvia should know."

"Doctor, I agree. Mothers are always going to be terrifying when it comes to the wellbeing of their children. It would be wrong for Sylvia not to know Emmy," River interjected.

The Doctor looked to Wilf, who was nodding. "Sylvia's at home. Should I call her up and see if she'd like to meet Emily?" he asked.

The Doctor shrugged and River rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, please do," she answered for the Doctor. "I think it will be fine."

Wilf did so, and within ten minutes, Sylvia walked into the café and saw the three people sitting with her father. "What are you doing here?" she asked the Doctor in a rude tone.

"Do you remember me telling you that we need to have a little chat?" the Doctor asked. "Well, this is the little chat I promised you. Sylvia, meet your granddaughter, Emily."

Emily managed to glance up and her eyes widened. "You're the mean lady who was mean to my daddy!"

River's eyes then widened as she turned to Emily. "Emily Artemis… that's rude!" she hissed.

"But it's the truth, and you've always told me to tell the truth."

"Some truths just aren't told," River replied, mortified.

River turned back to Sylvia, who stood with her mouth slightly agape as she stared at Emily. "Oh my god," Sylvia remarked. "How did I miss that?"

She turned to her father and still gaped. "Dad, how did I miss that? She's exactly like Donna."

"I missed it too, so don't feel bad."

"But… but how?" she asked.

The Doctor pulled a chair up to the table and gestured for Sylvia to sit down. She did so, her hands shaking and her mouth no longer agape. "A little over four years ago, Donna showed up on a planet about 300 light-years away from here, and just by chance, we got married and she got pregnant and had Emily."

"Donna can't get pregnant. All the doctors told her so."

"Not this Doctor," Wilf interjected.

"On the planet, they have this ceremony where they join their people in marriage with a slice of the palm and some agents that bind people to their mates. Because this happened to Donna and me, I'm the only person in the universe in which she can, for lack of a better way of phrasing, mate with. Furthermore, I'm the only person in the universe to which she'll feel strongly attracted to," the Doctor explained.

"So you caused this?" Sylvia asked accusingly.

"The randomness of the universe caused this," the Doctor replied defensively. "Can you not at least find the good from this? Your daughter is safe and happy, but you also have a granddaughter that is actually your daughter's biological child when you thought that she couldn't have children."

"It doesn't do her a bit of good because she can't know about the daughter she has."

"Well, that's another thing I have to explain."

"What's that?"

"I know how to fix her."

Sylvia's eyes flashed with optimism, but quickly reverted to defensiveness. "How is that?" she asked hesitantly.

"The Chameleon Arch. It's too confusing to explain, but I know how to fix her. Thing is… "

"Marissa," Wilf and Sylvia said in unison.

"Oh my god," Sylvia murmured as she realized the fullest extent of her daughter's tragedy. "You don't want to take her away from the baby by giving her back her memories because if you do, she won't stay. I know she wouldn't stay. And presumably, if she remembers you, she'll lose all happiness she has with Shaun and want to run away, and that would do more harm than good."

"And you want her to be happy," Wilf added.

The Doctor nodded. "Always."

After a moment of silence, Emily decided to put in her two cents. "Mimmy… can we get some of this broccoli stuff when we get home? I like it!" Emily chirped.

"She likes broccoli?" Sylvia asked.

"She's an odd child," River explained as she nodded to Emily.

"I'd hardly expect any less," Sylvia said with a smile.

"Do you want to know about Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" Emily asked Sylvia, apparently over the fact that Sylvia had been rude to the Doctor when Emily first met Sylvia.

"Who is Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" Sylvia asked, suddenly softened and agreeable to the little girl.

Emily proceeded to go on a ten-minute rant about who Mr. Snuffle-Waffles was. Sylvia and Wilf listened to the little girl in earnest while the Doctor and River just sat back and wondered when it'd end. When Emily finally finished, she sucked in a long draw of air and was poised to start again, at which point, both the Doctor and River made a move to put their hands over Emily's mouth to prevent another ten minute rant about Mr. Snuffle-Waffles' love of lasers and attacking the Daleks.

River noted that the Doctor hadn't stopped smiling since Sylvia was told of Emily's relation to her. For this, River also was smiling. Finally, it looked like the Doctor was working through the problems that had plagued him for the last few months, and for this, she was relieved.

She realized, as they finished their lunch and beverages, that that was all she wanted. She just wanted the Doctor to be happy. And if he was happy, she was happy. It was that simple.


	38. Days After Atlantis: Part 18

Part Eighteen

Upon leaving the café, the Doctor, River, and Emily retuned to the TARDIS and went to Torchwood. The Doctor had plugged in the coordinates that Jack had provided for the Hub before he had left the Doctor and Emily at Donna's house about four years earlier. They were shortly outside the Hub.

When the Doctor figured out where they were (he suspected it was Edinburgh), he phoned Jack. "Hullo?" Jack answered.

"Jack, it's the Doctor. We're here."

"Oh! Right, come on in. It's open for you," Jack told him before they hung up.

When they walked through the doors into the Hub, the Doctor found himself in a large, surprisingly bright room with cement walls and stairwells. Then, they found Jack, who was on the balcony above. "Doc!" he called out.

"Jack… I come bearing guests!" the Doctor called up to Jack.

"I can see that," Jack said as he came down the stairs.

When Jack reached the trio of time travelers, he wore a look of interest. "I feel like there's a story here," he said, gesturing to River.

River's eyes widened. "I think I've seen you before," she remarked.

"Really? I would have remembered if we had met…" Jack replied in a slightly suggestive tone.

"Really Jack? Really?" the Doctor sighed. "She's pregnant."

River turned to the Doctor and positioned a hand on her hip. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked him in interest.

His face paled and he started to backpedal. "Well… I mean… it's inappropriate given the circumstances with Emily, and well, you're pregnant, and he's a playboy and I'm here, and it's weird, and it's inappropriate," he rambled quickly.

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not still a woman," River replied jokingly, winking at Jack because she knew that it would grind the Doctor's gears.

To further her point, River struck a pose and made a long, swooping gesture at herself before snorting with laughter. Jack burst out laughing. "Doc, where did you find this one?" he asked.

"This is River Song," the Doctor remarked, smiling at River's antics.

"River Song? Sounds like a set of lyrics I've heard before," Jack remarked.

"I'm sure you have heard those lyrics," River replied. "My parents were very musical and loved classical music. They especially enjoyed classical music of the 21st century."

Emily was staring around the room with a dreamy look on her face. It was clear that she liked this place. "Daddy, what's that?" Emily said, pointing up at the ceiling.

The Doctor looked up and saw a huge orb hovering in the air. "What is that?" the Doctor asked of Jack.

Jack, however, was looking at Emily with interest. "This is Emily?" he asked.

"The one and only," River remarked before addressing the Doctor's question. "Doctor, it looks like that is an Arebequian Halo-Craft. They're how the Arebequians traveled, they're like cars. This one is in excellent condition though."

"She looks different than I remember," Jack remarked, ignoring River's explanation.

"What do you mean? Of course she looks different. The last time you saw her, she was able to fit into the crook of my arm."

"No… she should have redder hair. I remember she had redder hair and more freckles."

"Maybe your memories are muddled."

"Nope… pretty sure she had really red hair and more freckles. Instead, she looks more like you, down to the floppy hair and impish grin."

"Well, sometimes timelines don't adjust properly," the Doctor replied. "For example, you told me that Emmy would have the cure for Donna in quite a few years… she's already figured it out."

River had taken a seat in the chair nearest to her, and Emily had curled up in the chair next to River. "I actually think she looks more like you now. Does that happen? Gallifreyan children changing to look like their parents as the parents regenerate?"

The Doctor turned to look at her. "Actually… that does happen," he remarked. "Why didn't I think of that? And I didn't think it'd happen with a human hybrid child either. Interesting. Good call."

"See," River said to Jack, "this is why he keeps me around."

Both men laughed, found chairs in the main workspace, and then went about talking. They spent hours catching up, River interjecting something every now and then. Emily was napping against River, completely dead to the world. River was quiet because she hadn't been feeling too well since they'd left the café. Her head was throbbing painfully and she couldn't ease the pain that had settled in her back with the stretching she'd been able to do to get rid of the discomfort before just wasn't helping anymore. Secretly, as the Doctor and Jack caught up, she wondered if she was going into labor.

"River?"

The Doctor had been saying her name for about a minute now. "River? Are you okay?" he asked her as he nudged her shoulder.

She blinked a few times and then nodded slightly. The Doctor doubted this was the truth, so he brought his hand up to her forehead. "River, you're burning up," he remarked.

Jack leaned forward and felt her forehead. "He's right. Do you want to go lay down?" he asked River.

"No, I'm fine," she replied in barely a whisper.

The Doctor was already standing up held out his hand to River. "You're tired and you're running a fever. Maybe we should get back home," he remarked.

She shook her head. "I'm fine here," she replied.

"Jack and I will help you," the Doctor promised.

"I'm very handy," Jack replied.

"Don't start," the Doctor warned.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that," Jack added humbly.

River sighed and planted her hands on the armrests of the chair so she could push herself up. As she tried to stand up, she hesitated. "Is something wrong?" the Doctor asked, his hand out, ready to help steady her.

"I don't think I can move," River said, her eyes starting to fill with terror. "I think something's wrong."

Jack jumped into action. "I'll call Martha," he told the Doctor before he ran off to go phone Martha.

River sat back down in the chair slowly, now a very pale shade of pink or a very pink shade of white. The Doctor was crouched down beside her, looking up into her eyes. "Are you having any pain?"

"My back is a little stiff, and my head is throbbing," she informed him.

"Come here," he gestured as he placed his hands on her temples and closed his eyes. "Breathe a little for me."

Instead of calming River, she let out a harsh cry. "Oh!"

The Doctor's eyes flew open. "What? Did I hurt you?"

"No, no, no… here," she murmured as she started rubbing a spot on the lower right of her abdomen. "Oh god… what if the baby's coming?"

"Well, we've got Martha on the way, and she's good with delivering babies."

"No, Doctor… this isn't right. I was supposed to have the baby at home."

"And Emily was supposed to be born in the TARDIS. She was born in a convent on Appares Acwin. The plan is changing."

Jack came jogging back into the room. "Martha will be here in ten minutes. She says to get River into bed in case she's in labor."

"I think she's in labor," the Doctor informed Jack.

"Good, well, then, getting her to bed still stands."

"Doctor, this is wrong! It's not supposed to happen like this!" River cried out, the fear now completely present in her voice.

He pulled her forehead down to his, so that they touched, and looked her in the eyes. "Nothing will happen to you. You are safe. You've got an army, we're all capable. We need you to be strong now and to relax."

"I know very little about 21st century medicine. I know quite a lot about 51st century medicine though."

"Trust me, you're in good hands."

River sighed and blinked back her tears. She could sense that something wasn't right, wasn't normal, about what was happening to her, but she knew that the Doctor didn't make empty promises of this caliber. She had always trusted him, but this moment, for the first time, she had reason to think that maybe the Doctor was wrong.

"Can you walk?"

River tried to stand once again, but felt her legs start to collapse under her. The Doctor instantly scooped himself up her left side, holding her up from under her arms. Jack quickly took up the right side, shooting the Doctor a look of worry. River's tears finally got the better of her, and she started crying softly. "You're going to be fine," Jack promised River, the woman he'd just met.

When the two men had gotten River into a bed in a room that was presumably for people who were working long shifts, Jack left the room to go wait for Martha. River lay on her back in the bed, staring up at the cement ceiling while the Doctor started a scan with the sonic screwdriver. He said nothing, but wore a slightly concerned look on his face. "Where does it hurt?"

"My head," River reminded him. "And now my back, because the baby's right on my spine and pelvis. Can I turn onto my side?"

He shook his head. "Not quite yet. How about we prop you up?"

River propped herself up on her elbows as the Doctor stuffed some pillows behind her head and shoulders. "Okay, lean back and let me know how that feels."

"It's fine. Thanks," she answered weakly.

Martha arrived shortly, and after a quick exam, she came out of the room to report her findings to the two men. "She's in labor," Martha said, certifying their suspicions.

"Well, are you equipped to deliver a baby?" the Doctor asked.

"I can certainly do so, but I don't want to deliver the baby in there. Can I use the medical center here?" she asked Jack.

Jack nodded. "We'll help her to the medical center."


	39. Days After Atlantis: Part 19

Part Nineteen

The two men and Martha helped River to the med bay. Jack had gone back upstairs, while the Doctor tried to stay with River. Martha had asked that they stay nearby in case she needed help, but that they stay out of the room, per River's request. "She wants someone to watch Emily and keep Emily calm," Martha explained.

"Well, Emmy's asleep," the Doctor pointed out.

"Okay, that's fine," Martha replied.

About twenty minutes after moving River, Martha called the Doctor down to help with moral support. "She's refusing to push," Martha whispered.

"I can move the universe, but I don't know how effective I will be at making her push. I'll try though."

His tries had little impact; River held to her firm refusal to push. Martha sent the Doctor out of the room and back to be with Jack. The Doctor checked on Emily, who had been moved to a room just off the main area to sleep, and then sat down again. "I wonder why she's being so difficult with this," he wondered aloud when he sat down.

"Maybe she's scared?"

"No… she's not scared that easily. There must be something more," the Doctor said airily before falling silent once more.

A few hours later, Martha came up the stairs from the medical center, looking tired and defeated. She brushed back the hair that had fallen into her face and strode across the room to the Doctor and Jack, who were sitting with tea, without words. "Doctor?"

He stood up and faced her intently. "How is she? How is the baby?"

Martha shook her head. As she opened her mouth to explain, the Doctor had seated himself again and covered his face with his hands, letting out a groan. "No… no, no, no. This isn't how it's supposed to happen! It's supposed to happen at the Library…" he grumbled to himself.

Martha crouched down next to him. "The Library? Doctor, River's fine. She's still sedated, but she lost the baby. He was stillborn."

He peered at her through his fingers. "Oh no," he remarked softly. "No… no, no, no… she wanted that baby so badly."

"I know," Martha replied. "She doesn't know yet. I had to perform an emergency Cesarean; she'll have the staples for about a week and a half, depending on how quickly she heals."

"Thank you, Martha. I'm sorry you had to do this," the Doctor said before hugging Martha and turning towards the stairs to get to River.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

"I want to be there when she wakes up. I think I should be the one to tell her," he answered before striding off noiselessly.

Martha took the Doctor's seat across from Jack. "You'd think that it was his son," she whispered.

"River's his support system. If he loses his support system, well, he's lost support. She's almost as important as Donna. Not quite, but close. I think River wants so badly to be someone's actual mother, not just someone's surrogate mother, but as the mother of her own child. Put that with the fact that she's clearly in love with the Doctor, but the Doctor is in love with Donna, River's got a shell of a life, just a fake family, with façades all around her, composing her existence."

"Which one do you prefer? River or Donna?" Martha asked.

Jack did not reply.

Meanwhile, in the room with River, the Doctor sat in the chair next to the bed, watching River sleep. She had regular breathing but had tearstains on her cheeks. Even unconscious, she could feel pain, and probably already knew that the baby she'd carried hadn't made it. It was the Doctor's turn to take care of River, when she'd taken care of him for all this time.

A few more hours passed, and the Doctor had gone to check on Emily, who had been asleep on Jack's coat at Jack's desk. While he was up, the Doctor had made himself some tea and returned to talk with Martha and Jack. "How is she doing?" they asked him.

"Still asleep. I think she'll wake up in a little while based off of the scans I did of her."

They were silent once more until Jack spoke up. "Where is the baby now?" he asked Martha.

"I put him in a cradle in the Med Bay because I didn't know…" her voice faltered.

"Thank you," the Doctor said quietly, not wishing to make Martha finish her statement. "I'm going to go check on River."

He stepped out of the room and made his way back to River. From the slight noises of awaken he could hear, he could tell that she was either waking up or near to waking up.

Inhaling deeply, the Doctor sat down next to River's bed and wasn't surprised when her eyes flew open. "Where am I?" she gasped.

"You're at Torchwood. You're fine," he assured her.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"You had to have an emergency c-section."

River's eyes flashed in one full motion of realization and sorrow. "I know that face," she whispered. "Where is the baby?"

"He's here, in the Med Bay. Martha can bring him in if you want, but if you don't want to see him, that's perfectly fine too."

"Oh my god," she murmured before blinking a few times. "Doctor… what happened?"

"He was born stillborn."

River started shaking, her fists clenched in fury. "No," she hissed quietly. "No, this is not happening."

"River," he said flatly.

"No!" she growled. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"River, please," the Doctor pleaded.

"What?" she murmured, her voice indicating the onset of tears.

"I'm sorry," he said very quietly.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," she whispered as her eyes filled with tears.

"I know."

"Then why does it happen like this? Why does my life keep happening like this? I can't have the things I want most."

The Doctor never claimed to have all the answers. He only claimed to know a lot from life experience. Though, in all his time in life, he'd never had to experience something so dreadful as losing a child before birth. He'd lost several children, but never before they were born. All he knew was that River was not just crying over the loss of her son. She was crying at all the near-misses she'd had in her life.

When he felt a tug at his arm, he sat down on the bed and wrapped River into a hug and let her cry. He'd found that this was often the best way of helping to ease the pain that life likes to throw around at whim.


	40. Days After Atlantis: Part 20

Part Twenty

Emily had been waiting for her little brother or little sister to arrive for what seemed like ages to her young mind. Every day, she'd run up to River and ask: "Is my little brother or sister here yet?"

And every day, River would reply with a laugh, and then an explanation. "Not yet, sweetie. The baby isn't ready yet."

It always seemed like the baby wasn't ready yet. Then the baby still didn't come, but River didn't seem to be getting any bigger. In fact, River seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, to what Emily could tell because she was now able to sit on River's lap as she had been able to do before.

"Mimmy, when is my little brother or sister going to be here?" Emily asked one afternoon about three weeks after the baby had been born stillborn.

River had been under the impression that Emily knew what had happened to the baby. She thought that the Doctor had already explained it to her. But since Emily was asking, River was now quite aware that she'd have to explain this to Emily. This just wasn't something that she could push onto the Doctor to deal with.

River opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She realized she didn't know how to even begin to explain what had happened to Emily because she, herself, hadn't quite gathered the fullest understanding of what had happened. She was well aware of what had happened, but not why.

She knew it was something she'd done. Something she'd done had caused her to lose her little boy. If she hadn't had done whatever had caused her baby to die, she'd be up all night with a fussy newborn instead of being up all night crying herself to sleep. And she'd been so careful: done all the right things, eaten the right foods, prepared meticulously. All of that, and it came to this: having to explain to the little girl, whom River loved with every ounce of her being, that the universe isn't always as kind as she perceived it to be.

River instantly flashed to the story that the Doctor had told her, of Emily's birth, and the events leading to Donna's unfortunate loss. He'd told her about how painful it was to wipe away the happiest times of a life because it just wasn't reality. Emily still believed in the good of the universe, but if River were to explain what happened to the baby, there was no returning to complete innocence. How did that make Emily any different than Donna? How did this spare Emily the same fate as her mother? How did this protect Emily?

But lying to Emily wasn't right either. Emily was incredibly observant for her age, something that made it difficult when River and the Doctor would argue over something or had problems. Considering how the last few months with the Doctor had been after not being able to fix Donna, River knew that Emily was deeply impacted by not talking about the herd of elephants in the room.  
"Emily," she began, but found her eyes welled up.

"Mimmy, why are you crying? Babies aren't sad things, are they?"

"No… babies aren't sad things. Babies are happy things. But sometimes sad things happen to babies…" her voice faltered.

"Did the baby get hurt?" Emily asked, her voice becoming serious and quiet.

River let out a loud sob and Emily stared at her, her face solemn and worried. "Mimmy?" Emily asked hesitantly. "Should I find Daddy?"

River shook her head. "Daddy's off saving a planet somewhere," she replied. "I'm fine."

"But you're crying. When I cry, it's because I'm sad or I got an owie. Do you have an owie?"

"Emily, the baby… isn't coming."

River had hoped to sugar coat it a little more than she had. Blame emotions for making something so touchy come out so bluntly. "Why isn't the baby coming? Did the baby have to go somewhere else?"

"Yes," she sniffed, hoping that maybe Emily could help her explain what had happened.

"Where did the baby go?"

"He went to Artilude."

"What's Artilude?"

"It's where you go after you die," River explained calmly, her tears lessening as she found the way to handle this conversation.

Religion had changed in the 35th century after the Second Crusade Wars had caused the Human Empire to abolish the individual religious sects. Realizing that religion was a natural component of humanity, the leaders combined all religions into one massive, all-encompassing religion. The idea of Artilude was from this decision.

"The baby died?" Emily realized.

"Yes, sweetie, he died," River sighed.

"What was his name?"

"He was going to be named David."

"I'm sorry Mimmy," Emily said as she carefully approached River and hugged her.

She hardly understood the concept of death, but she knew enough from River and the Doctor to know what sadness meant and how it could be lessened. Donna's humanity and capacity to read human emotions was ever-present in Emily, something that both the Doctor and River admired and appreciated.

"It's not your fault," River promised Emily. "Sweetie, why don't you go play with Mr. Snuffle-Waffles? I've got work to finish before tomorrow morning and I'm nowhere close to being done with it."

When Emily left the room to go play, River turned around and headed for her study. Once she was here, she started taking books off of the shelves, stacking them on the desk. When she was done there, she moved on to her bedroom, pulling out two suitcases and then gathering up clothing, hastily shoving the garments into the suitcases. She didn't know why she was doing this. All she knew as that she needed to get out of there. She needed to gather some sense of the matter and couldn't do that there.

Of course, Emily figured out what River was doing, and instantly, she became concerned. She didn't know how to fix her Mimmy now, and figured that her Daddy could do it if she couldn't. So, she determined that she was going to wait for the Doctor and stave off River's departure. She did this by sitting on the front step, staring out at the meadow before her. When the TARDIS rematerialized, her eyes flicked over to the landing area. When the Doctor finally got to the front porch, he saw Emily sitting there, looking morose. "Emmy, what's wrong?"

"Why do all my mummies keep leaving? Why don't my mummies like me?" she asked him through her hiccups and recent tears.

The Doctor's face paled as he ran up the stairs and into the house. "River?" he called out frantically. "River, where are you?"

She peered around the wall of the kitchen at him. "What?" she asked in a false calmness.

"What is going on?" he asked her quietly. "Why is Emmy crying?"

River's face softened. "What? She's crying?"

"Yes. What is going on? Why did she ask me why her mummies keep leaving and why they don't like her?"

River muttered an explicative. "Sometimes that little girl knows much too much for her own good."

"I'm waiting for an answer," the Doctor said stiffly.

"I need to get out of here. I need to just leave for a while."

"You aren't allowed to just leave for a while," the Doctor informed her.

She had turned back to the counter, but whipped herself around to face him. She strode up to him and glared up into his eyes. "Oh, suddenly, I'm not allowed? I'm not allowed to really be here, but I'm also not allowed to just leave?" she asked in a bitingly-condescending tone.

"You hold all of this together, and you know that!" the Doctor cried out.

"I just can't do anything right, apparently."

"Where is that coming from?"

"I can't do anything! I can't actually be her mother! You're always off trying to get the real thing back, and you completely overlook what you do have for what you don't have."

"It's reasonable, is it not?"

"It's not reasonable to make me feel like all that I've done hasn't been good enough. All the blood, sweat, tears, time, and energy I've put into making sure that you don't completely disintegrate from a mental breakdown has been worthless, according to your actions. You've completely disregarded what I've tried to do in the last four and a half years of my life with helping you with your daughter. Sometimes, I simply wonder why the hell you have stuck around instead of going back to Earth and just living there. Why be domestic here if you really want to be domestic there?"

"River, I can't do that, you know that."

"Well, you know what… I can't keep doing this!" she screamed.

She slammed down the glass she had in her hand down on the counter, shattering it. Her face was pale, her eyes fiercely blue. The Doctor suddenly became very glad that he could regenerate after a fatal accident, because he could tell that River could easily kill him in this state of anger.

"River," he said softly.

When River slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her suitcases, and walked out the front door, the Doctor followed her. "Do you not see what you're doing to her?" he yelled, hoping that Emily couldn't hear him. "You're breaking her heart!"

"You're breaking my heart!" River screamed as she threw her bags to the ground. "Don't you see what you're doing to ME? I'm aware at how selfish that sounds; don't even go there."

He only stared at her. "She's your daughter too."

"That, beautiful, precious little girl, is not my daughter. I'm just her baby-sitter, the nanny. I'm not allowed to love her the way that Donna could. I'm not allowed to properly reprimand her or guide her. You may not realize that, but I'm not entitled to be her mother. You want Donna. You don't want me. So, why don't you just stop setting with me, and go get Donna?" River asked, suddenly out of breath.

She fell to the ground and flopped onto her back before sucking in a loud gasp of air and then a scream. "I can't keep doing this, Doctor. I need something more. And that baby, that poor little boy, was all I had. He was my something more."

"You could have prevented that by not using the Vortex Manipulator so late in your pregnancy. I told you not to!"

River leapt to her feet and stormed up to the Doctor. She stood right beneath his chin, her nose level with his bowtie. "You don't think I know that?" she growled.

"You didn't listen."

Her eyes, so stark against the red fury of her face, flashed once before the Doctor found himself on the ground, River standing over him. "She's yours now. Go be her father, and stop expecting me to pick up the pieces. I want you out of the house by the time I get back. And I don't know when I'll be back, so you should just go now. I don't want to see you again," she said, frighteningly calm, in contrast to the words she was spewing at the Doctor.

"How am I supposed to explain this to her?" he yelled.

River's reply was to gather her bag and then hit the button on the Vortex Manipulator cuff and to vanish from the Doctor's world.

The next noise the Doctor heard was the sound of Emily running and yelling in sorrow. "Mimmy! No! Come back, Mimmy! Mimmy, no, no, no, NO!" Emily screamed in distress.

Emily would have kept running if the Doctor hadn't caught her and wrapped her into a hug. "Emily, it's going to be okay," he kept assuring her, even though he hardly believed it himself.

Emily dissolved into a tantrum, flailing about the ground in screams of anger and sorrow. She finally wore herself out and fell asleep crying. At this point, the similarly-exhausted Doctor lifted Emily up from the ground and carried her back into the house that he'd been informed that he needed to vacate.

After putting Emily in her bed, the Doctor went about collecting the things that he'd taken the liberty of keeping at the home that he'd actually lived in beyond the TARDIS. He didn't know how to react to River's abrupt departure, so he kept himself busy with vacating the house.

When Emily's cries came from the other room, the Doctor suspended his packing and went to go comfort her. "Daddy? Are you going to leave me too?" Emily asked him as he sat on the bed with her and Mr. Snuffle-Waffles.

He shook his head and hugged Emily. "Never," he promised.

He hated the universe sometimes. He really, truly, utterly, hated the universe sometimes. He didn't know what the universe had against him, but he was tired of this madness that built his life.


	41. Days After Atlantis: Part 21

Part Twenty-One

The Doctor sat with his head in his hands. How this had happened to Emily, he had no idea. One moment, he was working on parts for the TARDIS, thinking Emily was playing in the living room, the next moment, he realized that she was definitely not there, and found himself having to go chasing after a four year old and her stuffed animal across the universe. The TARDIS had taken the Doctor where Emily had been stolen away to.

It was a large, cement, dank place, evil and danger emitting from every square inch of the place. It was cold, dark, and reminded the Doctor of a prison, perhaps like the Stormcage.

When he finally found Emily, he found a set of the evolved Daleks, the ones that looked like they had been attacked by Emily and her fervent love of crayons. He only heard the Daleks' vengeful command; didn't see Emily, but heard three loud, crisp shots of a laser shooter. "Emily!" screamed a woman's voice.

"EXTERMINATE!" a Dalek shouted.

"MERCY!" another shouted.

Another three shots of a laser shooter rang out through the cement hallway that the TARDIS had landed in. Footfalls and concern rang out through the hallway and then a shrill cry from something rattled the cement walls. "GOT YOU!" a little girl cried out in joy.

"Emily!" the voice of a woman called out again. "Emily, where are you?"

One last sound of a laser shot out, and screams of Dalek agony rang out. "Oh my god," the woman's voice once more.

The Doctor continued to sprint down the hallway until he saw Emily, holding Mr. Snuffle-Waffles, who had a strange sort of smoke coming from his body. Emily looked a little surprised, but wore a huge grin on her face. "Daddy… we defeated the Daleks," she informed her father.

River was standing not farther than thirty feet in front of him, just beyond the obliterated Daleks and the incredulous looking Emily. She looked exhausted and a little gaunt, as if the last four months of her absence had left her drained. "Emily Artemis," she began.

The Doctor's mouth was agape, trying to take in the scene in front of him. "River…"

"Daddy! We defeated the Daleks!" Emily cried out again.

"Who is we?"

"Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and me!"

River's eyes jerked up to meet the Doctor's. "We need to get her out of here. She's just taken out three Daleks… there are sure to be more, and they're sure to be angry about it."

The Doctor scooped Emily up and they started running towards where the TARDIS had been. "Where do we go?" River panted as soon as she slammed the doors of the TARDIS behind her.

"Torchwood."

"What?"

"I asked Jack for help trying to find Emily. I got to go tell him I've got her."

"Oh, makes sense. By the way, hi."

The Doctor said nothing in reply as Emily was placed down on the jump seat and started flipping switches, twisting knobby things, and throwing levers. The center spire of the TARDIS started pumping up and down and they were on their way. River silently went about helping pilot the TARDIS, realizing her place now.

"You left the house."

"You told me to."

"Since when do you listen to me?"

"Since when do you leave?"

"Doctor, I needed to get away."

"I realize that," he replied stiffly. "We're here."

Emily slid off the seat, ran to the front door and threw it open. She then ran from the TARDIS, into the Hub. The two adults followed, and saw Jack's surprised face. "You found her?"

"That's a different story," the Doctor muttered.

"Hi Jack," River sighed.

"What happened?" Jack asked, watching River as she followed Emily to make sure that she didn't go start World War Three with some of the technology she suspected the Hub maintained.

Martha came running into the room, throwing her bag to the side and hugging Emily as soon as she saw the little girl. "Doctor! She's okay?"

"From what we can tell," River replied.

Martha's eyes flashed in anger as she stiffly turned back to Emily, who was now recounting the story at rapid paces. River felt more and more unwelcome, feeling it was necessary that she talk to the Doctor as soon as it was convenient.

Jack leaned over to the Doctor and muttered in his ear: "When did the flood come crashing back in?" He was speaking of River.

"Can you take a look at Emmy's stuffed animal, please? I think we'll have more answers after we do that."

Jack took Mr. Snuffle-Waffles and walked out of the main room, leaving Martha, Emily, the Doctor, and River to stand around and stare at each other. Emily warily watched River, who was sitting quietly. Finally, with a little sigh, Emily stood and walked over to River. "Hi Mimmy," she said as she tried to get up onto the chair by River, but couldn't.

River picked up Emily, who instantly fell asleep on her shoulder after crawling into River's lap, acting as if River had never left. She carried Emily over to the Doctor and set the little girl into the Doctor's lap. "She's fine. Relax," River whispered as she wrapped the two in a blanket.

"She almost died," the Doctor replied in the same hushed tone.

"You and I both know that Emily would have been quite capable," River answered.

Jack walked into the room, holding Mr. Snuffle-Waffles. "This is genius," he remarked as he handed the toy to River. "Putting a remotely-controlled laser in the stuffed animal she takes everywhere… brilliant."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Who put a laser in Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" he hissed.

River shot him a look. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Actually, yes."

"It saved your daughter's life today. Get over it."

His jaw dropped in disbelief. "Who, in their right mind, would put a LASER into a stuffed animal of a four year old?" he asked in hushed yells.

Martha stood and offered to take Emily back to her room. "This seems like a conversation that needs Emily in bed," she explained as she picked up the little girl and carried her out of the room.

The Doctor murmured his thanks before standing to face River. "River, she could have hurt herself! You know that she's wanted to put lasers into Mr. Snuffle-Waffles for ages!"

"How do you think I came up with the idea? You've said it yourself: what happens if neither of us is there to keep her safe?"

"I didn't mean that to mean that you put a Laser **_In_** Her Stuffed Animal."

"It's remotely controlled and it turns on when it senses trouble. It's been programmed to sense when there are Daleks or other unsightly pests around, and it can tell if there's impending danger to Emily. And if that doesn't work, I've installed a GPS device in Mr. Snuffle-Waffles so I can keep an eye on her and if she needs help, I know where to go. I wasn't there by coincidence."

The Doctor rose from his chair and left the room angrily. He needed to get away from River before he blew a gasket and did some real damage.


	42. Days After Atlantis: Part 22

Part Twenty-Two

It wasn't like River Song to give up a fight. It wasn't impossible, but it was rare. And she was fully cognizant of exactly how the Doctor could get when he became irrational and thick-skulled. And if anyone had ever said that River Song was a placid woman, well, they hadn't seen her quite like the Doctor had.

She followed the Doctor out of the room, marching after him with her blonde curls bobbing up and down as she stormed down the hallway. "Doctor!" she cried out curtly.

"River, I need to be alone!"

"Tough."

He spun around and was taken aback by the fact that River was now directly in front of him. He hadn't expected her to be so close. "River," he began, but she slapped a finger onto his lips and stood with her other hand planted on her hip.

"We need to talk."

"Can we do this later?" he mumbled through her finger.

"No."

"River."

"I was an idiot, I realize that. I did a lot of damage by leaving, and I don't know if I will ever be able to reconcile what I did. What I do know is that sometimes life hands you the most wretched things, and it's up to you to learn how to deal with them. Running away doesn't always work."

He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. River brought her hand down from his face and stepped back. He opened his eyes again and looked into hers. "We've both run away. Mine was adverse because I missed the first year of Emmy's life. Yours was adverse because Emmy was aware of what was going on. We're even."

"In that regard," River replied. "Otherwise, it's questionable."

"How so?"

"Do you know why I left?"

"You were upset about the baby, upset about your relation to Emmy, and frustrated with the overall situation. At least that's what I figured."

River nodded slightly. "His name was David. His name is David," she corrected him. "It's better if you refer to him as David."

"You named him David?" the Doctor asked in interest.

"Yes… why do you have that look on your face?" she asked him suspectingly.

"When I first met Emmy, she was pregnant with a son. She and Jack hadn't picked a name yet, but he told me later that they were going to name their son David. I wonder if you had anything to do with that decision."

"You never told me that you met Emmy when she was an adult."

"Yeah… that's how I found out about Donna and how we got to her. It's very convoluted, this timey-wimey life I lead."

River snorted with laughter and rubbed her cheek with her hand. "So… what are we going to do? Am I just going to walk away and leave you and Emily to lead normal… normal as you would put it… lives? Or am I going to drag you two back to the cottage and watch Emmy grow up and watch her drive us insane?"

"You put a laser in her stuffed animal. You know how I feel about guns."

"It wasn't a gun."

"It doesn't really matter… it was a weapon and she could have gotten hurt by it."

"I realize that. She was fine, is fine, and will be fine. Consider the alternative. What if she hadn't had that protection? She'd probably be hurt or dead by now. Regenerating at age four…"

"Do you think she'll regenerate?"

"I don't know. I thought that was your forte, not mine," River replied.

"Well, by what I've figured, she's about 75% Time Lord, which makes her likely to take on the Time Lord genes, but I'm not sure how that works out. Time Lord/Human hybrids are usually 50/50, not 75/25, and they are typically able to heal quickly and have heightened intelligence. They're incredibly rare though, so imagine the likelihood of Emmy."

"You're digressing."

"I tend to do that quite a lot, don't I?"

"Yes. Sometimes."

"Weapons. Not for four-year-old Time Lords. Okay?"

"Within reason."

"No."

"Yes. It was necessary for her to have that weapon with her."

"In Mr. Snuffle-Waffles though?

"Would you rather have it strapped to her head?"

"No, that would look ridiculous."

"So you admit there is some reason for Emmy to have a weapon."

"No."

"But I think you secretly agree with me."

"River, if I agreed with you, I wouldn't be upset about it."

"You're upset because your daughter was kidnapped and almost died. You're secretly proud that she defeated a few Daleks."

"A four-year-old murderer?"

"Oh, don't be like that. Your daughter defeated some of your greatest enemies. You're not going to stand there and tell me that you're mad that she can stand up for herself at her young age, are you?"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"When I put it like that, when I tell the truth… it's completely rational. She's not like your other children. She's not pure Gallifreyan. She's not going to be raised on Gallifrey. She's the daughter of a human woman who was pregnant with her for ten days. You've got to adjust to these things."

"We adjust in different ways then. Not by resorting to the use of weapons."

"Give me something to protect her with that is not a weapon, and I will use it."

"River, what do you want?" the Doctor asked, standing a foot away from River.

"Rights."

"To what?"

"Emmy."

"You want parental rights?"

"Not legally speaking. How it actually matters. I want the right to be a proper source of moral support for Emily."

"But you already are."

"Why do I always feel like I'm intruding then?"

"I don't know. Why do you feel like that?"

"Please don't repose my questions to me."

"I don't mean to be difficult. I just don't see how you could feel like you're intruding."

"You are not serious, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know how I can feel like I'm intruding?"

"Well, I can see how you might feel like that, but I'm not you."

"How thick are you?"

"River, don't be like that."

"Don't be like what?"

She stepped back from him and stared into his eyes. "Oh… don't be confused about how you sway between me and Donna, swaying between yes and no, hot and cold?" she asked. "If only it were that easy…"

"I thought we'd established that Donna won't be in Emmy's life for a little longer."

"And I thought we'd established that you're still completely wrapped up in Donna like you could have her right now."

"This isn't productive."

"It's never been productive."

"Well, how do we make this productive?"

River braced herself on the railing behind her, and sighed. "I have no idea."

The Doctor turned to brace himself on the railing beside River. "Well," he started, "we need to figure out where things stand now."

"I agree. What do you want for Emily's future? Do you want her to be on 21st century Earth with Donna and her family nearby, or would you like her to stay in the 51st century?"

"She knows the 51st century quite well. She's comfortable with it."

"Where have you been for the last few months?"

"The Vortex mostly, but we went to Earth too," the Doctor explained.

"So, you'd like to come back to the house?"

"Yes."

"Okay. And what does that mean? What does that mean for me?"

He was quiet for a moment. "It means that we go on as we were."

"No, it means that I'm not just the stand-in. If it means that I'm going to go on being just the stand-in, I'm not doing it. I will have a full say in what Emily's upbringing will be, and I will be your full equal. I will not stand in a corner anymore."

River's assertiveness took the Doctor by surprise. She was completely certain of herself, and she was being clear and objective. There were no emotions flooding her argument as they had in the past, and she was finally sure of what she wanted. She knew how to articulate her desires, something the Doctor appreciated.

Taking time to weigh what she had said, the Doctor left River in the valance, waiting for some sort of answer. When he finally spoke, he opened his mouth slowly. "Okay."

"Okay? That's all?"

"You and I both have Emily's best interests in mind. It's stupid to do this when it is counteracting our efforts to keep Emily healthy and happy. She needs her parents to be united, and we are not united with things the way they were."

"I almost feel like you're settling."

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"River, you need to trust me."

"How?"

"By just doing it. You've got to jump."

"I don't want to just jump… I don't want to know if I'm going to fall far if I jump to see how far I fall."

"This is a matter of trust, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. It's always been a matter of trust."

"Why?"

"You left me with your daughter for a year… I'm always scared that you're just going to leave with Emily and leg it back to Earth for Donna. I have no problem with you going back to Donna… I just want fair warning."

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. "We've got some things to mend, haven't we?" he asked into her ear.

"Yes. But we have time for that, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. Should we go home?"

"That would be a good idea. I like that."

"I'm sure Emmy would like it too."

"Yeah… she's tried steering the TARDIS back to the cottage a few times while I haven't been looking, so maybe I'll let her drive home."

"Is she even tall enough to see the controls?"

"No, but that's the fun of it."

"I fear the day you teach her how to drive the TARDIS properly."

"Me too."

River laughed, relieved to know that things were coming to atonement.


	43. Days After Atlantis: Part 23

Part Twenty-Three

Life went on for the little, bizarre family. When Emily reached the age of seven, the trio began taking regular trips around the universe, mainly to excavation sites of River's, though they frequented calm planets that had established civilized society centuries earlier, and were quite stable politically and environmentally.

This stood as Emily's education. Both the Doctor and River felt that proper schooling in both the 21st century and the 51st century was too confining to Emily and her abilities, so they found that taking her along to excavation sites around the universe was the best way of teaching Emily. Besides… what would a Time Lord need to know about elementary things that these schools were teaching when she was born with this knowledge already?

Emily grew from the precocious toddler into a brilliant young woman. At age thirteen, she was eloquent and fluent, brave and humble, and somehow every bit the Doctor and every bit Donna. River's mothering had allowed Emily to be fearless; Emily had taken on enemies that no other child her age would be able to bear without breaking a sweat.

Emily had taken quite well to Wilf and Sylvia. She visited them regularly, being showered with their love and attention. She was clearly the favored grandchild, over the two children Donna had had with Shaun. Marissa and Caleb, Donna's children, were ten and six, respectively, and were nice children, but very different from Emily.

Ultimately, time went on, and the Doctor became less and less focused on what he could not change in the universe and more and more focused on what he could change, what he could influence, and what really mattered to him: his family.

River had become an equal to the Doctor; had taken quite well to the job when she was given free reign with it. Emily's bad habits were soon clipped and she became a very smart person with good manners and morals.

The Doctor had started teaching Emily about her heritage, giving her long lectures about Gallifrey and the customs of the Time Lord. She wouldn't be completely immersed in the culture for obvious reasons, but, what she could learn, he made sure she did. Emily often tired of these lectures, but hadn't shown any rebellion from learning about Gallifrey.

He hoped that this time would continue, and he might be able to somehow, reconstruct what he had destroyed in his younger years.

It was a long shot, but it was well worth the risk.


	44. Days After Atlantis: Part 24

Part Twenty-Four

The time came for the picnic at Asgard. River, Emily, and the Doctor had picked a spot on the edge of the Tallane Canyons to watch the giant dragonflies dart in, out, and around the open space in their mating dances. Behind all the other thoughts of this glorious day, the Doctor was well aware that this was the last time that he and River would see each other before it was River's end. Perhaps, one day, he would return to the Library to pay homage to the sacrifice she made for Donna, and ultimately, the Doctor's future.

He had pocketed the sonic screwdriver that he had fashioned for her, specifically for her final journey with the Doctor. He fiddled with it as he watched Emily and River talk animatedly about one thing or another. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that River was certainly Emily's biological mother, given the dynamic between two of the most important girls in his life. But River knew all too well that her precious Emily belonged to someone else, and she was simply just borrowing Emily.

And, as the Doctor realized, River was perfectly fine with that. It hadn't been something that had emerged overnight, but it had been something that had grown as River was allowed to become more and more Emily's mother.

Upon returning to River's cottage, Emily dashed off to her room with her gathered treasures from Asgard while the Doctor and River retreated to the back veranda of the house. River made tea while the Doctor mulled how he would present the screwdriver to River without making it overtly obvious his reasoning for doing so.

"Lot on your mind, Sweetie?" she asked as she strode across the wooden floor of the veranda.

He turned around to look at her and smiled slightly. He served her tea first before taking his own, examining her face. He didn't know how he could just let her fly away without thanking her, but in the same way, he didn't know how he could thank her without heightening her suspicion. She had an uncanny way of knowing when something was amiss.

He opened his mouth to speak, closing it in the next heartbeat, repeating this action another two times before River spoke for him. "Thank you for taking me to Asgard. You were right… the canyons were spectacular. Do you think we could go again sometime, take a look around and see if there's anything I can dig up for the university?" she before taking a sip of tea.

"Of course," he lied.

He reached into his coat pocket, deciding it was now or never if he was going to give the sonic to her. "I'm making a sonic screwdriver for Emily as a birthday present, but I'm not quite sure how she'll like it. I figured I'd make one for you too, so you can test it out and see if I need to change anything," he lied again as he handed it over to River.

"Doctor," she replied with a smile. "She'll love that."

He smiled weakly and nodded. "I hope so. She certainly makes thorough use of mine, so I figured it was time that she had her own."

River examined the device, after he had handed it over to her, with great care and attention to detail. She was touched that the Doctor had made her a screwdriver, but was surprised that it had taken the Doctor so long to do so, given the numerous times that River had relied on his screwdriver to accomplish tasks. It might have taken a while for him to finally understand, but when he did, one could be sure that he really understood.

The Doctor noted the date, seven days later, when River flitted off to The Library for an excavation. That morning, he'd woken up in River's bed. He had no idea why he was there, but when River walked out of the bathroom, she was already dressed and ready to leave for the expedition. "Sweetie, get your shoes off of the bedspread," she said as she walked through.

"River, why am I in your bed?"

"I don't know. You must have come in late and were so exhausted you couldn't make it to your bedroom, so you crashed in mine."

"Oh. Sorry."

He watched her finish her preparations. "What's wrong?" she asked him, stopping in the middle room to hear his answer.

"Don't go today," he urged, feeling the sickness that impending doom always brought. "Just stay here and we'll go somewhere on the TARDIS."

"Sweetie, I need to do this. It's _The Library_, for goodness' sake! It's fascinating to know what happened to those people."

When she turned her back, he muttered under his breath, "No, not particularly."

She spun around. "Did you say something?"

"Just cleared my throat," he said, clearing his throat again to prove his point.

"Okay," she replied, not completely believing what he was saying.

When she was ready, she walked out of the room, sending a glance back at him, signaling that he should follow. He walked out behind her, and found Emily already standing out on the porch. "Bring back a book for me, will you?" she asked eagerly.

"It's the Library… I can't just bring back a book for you!"

"Why not?"

"Because, that's stealing, because I know that you'd never give it back… you must have learned that from me," River replied, with a smile and a kiss to Emily's forehead. "Be good, have fun, and don't cause your father too much grief while I'm gone."

Emily snorted with laughter. "That's impossible, you know," she remarked.

"Try, sweetie. Try. Grow your skills as a person," River suggested jokingly.

She then turned to the Doctor, who had gone slightly pale. "Are you feeling well?" she asked him.

"Yeah… just need a bite of food or something. I'm a little queasy from not eating," he lied.

He wanted to lock her in handcuffs, send her to the cellar for the rest of her life it meant that she would not go to the Library. But he knew that that would be stupid. Besides… this was the way that time went. This had to happen. He knew that the end would come again, and he'd have to live with the choices and the paths that he'd taken in his life that led him to her.

He knew that she'd meet Donna. She'd know where Emily got her Donna-like traits, and understand the particulars of his past. He was comforted by the fact that at least he'd gotten the chance to know River, now knowing why she knew his name, and had reconciled so that Emily might have a mother. And in a very platonic way, he loved River. He felt no deep attraction towards River that he felt towards Donna, but River had proven herself to be someone whom he could love. And he knew that she loved him, which made it easier for him.

Another comforting thought was that with each passing day, week, month, year, he got closer to being with Donna again. And, ultimately, that was the primary goal.

But for now, he was standing on the porch with his two girls, one of which had an incredible adventure ahead of her, the other having years of life ahead of her. After River and Emily had hugged one last time, Emily scampered off to go read a book she'd taken a keen interest in. This left the Doctor and River alone once more.

"Don't go," he said, remembering the faint buzzing he'd heard that morning.

"Sweetie, I have to go. I don't know why you don't want me to go."

"You could do so much more here than there," he said, remembering all the good times they'd had. "We could go to Asgard again."

"Oh, I've set up the excavation for two weeks from today. We will be going in two weeks."

"Well, we'll go to Poosh."

"Poosh is dull. My parents dragged me there many times as a child, and I hated it."

"We'll go to Appares Acwin!" he found himself blurting out in desperation.

"You said you'd never return to Appares Acwin… not knowing what you know now."

"Well, it's gorgeous, and as long as we don't get caught, we'll be okay."

"You're like a toddler, you know that right?"

"Of course. I'm a very tall toddler who wears braces and a bowtie."

"Sweetie, I won't be gone long. At least two days."

"That's a quick excavation."

"I'm planning for it to be a quick excavation. I don't rather like the group I'm travelling with."

"Well, have fun. Be safe. And you have that chicken from last night, right?"

"Of course, it was delicious. I snagged the last of it, so you'll have to make more of the recipe if you want more."

He smiled. With one last hug and a kiss to her cheek, he let her go, knowing that this would be the last time he ever saw River Song.

Two days later, he got a message on his communicator from River.

"I'm sorry, my love."

And with that, he knew it was done.


	45. Days After Atlantis: Part 25

Part Twenty-Five

The Doctor walked through the huge, empty house that he and Emily had gone back to. Emily had gone down to the beach to collect shells, still unaware of River's death.

He walked through the home, looking at the photos on the wall. There were photos of happier times when Emily was younger and time seemed to be allowing the Doctor to relish in the solitude of watching his daughter grow up, discovering the world as she did so. There was artwork from Emily's finger-painting phase, crayon drawings, watercolor paintings, each piece of artwork becoming more and more sophisticated as he continued down the hall. He smiled as he remembered River's insistence upon hanging all of these pieces of artwork that Emily had presented to them so earnestly.

River had been a proper mother. She'd had the qualities that defined her as a mother: selfless, giving, worldly, and flexible. She'd taken in two people who needed her and had taken to the task of caring for these two helpless beings until she was no longer necessary. The Doctor wondered how Donna would have done.

Donna would have been brilliant as a mother. The Doctor knew that she was a brilliant mother to the children she and Shaun had had, but he couldn't compare two human children to a child of a Time Lord.

The Doctor wandered into River's study. He had spent so much time in this room that he hadn't the slightest idea what to make of the room now. He sat down in the huge desk chair that seemed to wrap him in River's lingering presence. As he laced his fingers together in his lap and sat back in the chair, his mind took him to all the time he and River had had together. He then thought of the journal and realized that River's journal, the journal that he had collected, along with the sonic screwdriver he'd made for her, sat in a locked chest in the TARDIS.

He leapt up and ran to the TARDIS. He quickly located the chest, as if the TARDIS was just waiting for the Doctor to go searching for it, and pulled out the book. "Should I read it?" he asked of the TARDIS.

The TARDIS made a noise of approval, and the Doctor patted her walls before walking back into the house. Anticipation filled him as he stared down at the book, like a child on Christmas morning. Once back in River's study, settled in the seat, he opened to the first page and was surprised at what he saw.

It was in Donna's characteristic scrawl, the long loops and the short little snippy lines the Doctor could remember her making as she scratched out her words. The surprise was short-lived when the Doctor remembered that it was Donna's journal first.

He was almost scared to read Donna's words, but felt that it was necessary to do so; if he'd already gone to the trouble of gathering River's journal, it was only the most perfectly logical next step.

The first page was to River.

_"We've met once, though I can't tell you when or where, because of the spoilers. Your future, my past, his future and past, that's what you and the Doctor share, from what I know. I anticipate that you know him quite well, given the way you looked at him when we met. There was trust in your eyes, and I know that the Doctor has/will reciprocate that trust._

_But now, as I sit here on this beautiful planet of Appares Acwin, I am faced with a rather prodigious dilemma that the universe has put me in. I'm married to the Doctor, pregnant with his child, but due to some rather unsightly disasters a few years ago, I cannot mentally handle being with the Doctor or my daughter. (At least, I think the baby's a girl… Jack and the Doctor have been telling me that I'm having a girl, given some weird timey-wimey matters.) And it gets better: I'm married to a fantastic man, Shaun, and I've got a life to live there too._

_That's where you come in. I'm expecting that you and the Doctor have plenty of time in the future together, plenty of time to spend raising a baby. For this, I bequeath to you my daughter. Until I can get back to her, I need you to be her mother. Love her, raise her, and teach her the ways of the universe when the Doctor doesn't do an adequate job. Teach her humanity, teach her compassion, teach her how to love, how to live. Tell her fairy tales of Earth to keep her grounded, and give her a proper childhood. Keep her out of the way of the Daleks, keep her innocent. Keep her safe, keep her loved._

_And keep the Doctor sane. Keep him safe, keep him sane, and love him. Love that man, because I know how painfully something of that caliber can consume you when you avoid facing reality. I know you love him based of how I saw you look at him. Please don't deny yourself this._

_I'm serious. Love them. Love them with every ounce of your being. Let yourself fall so deeply and passionately that you cannot find yourself. I don't foresee you being able to do otherwise._

_Another thing: keep this journal. Please write about Emily's life, in case I ever get the chance to know Emily and be with the Doctor again. Everything and anything, please write it down. Keep this journal with you and write about your life with the Doctor. You will need this journal someday._

_One last thing: thank you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you for helping the Doctor (I understand how presumptuous this is of me). I hope that the experiences you encounter in your time with the baby and the Doctor will be adequate thanks._

_Donna Leto Temple-Noble"_

River had done her job. And now, it was time for the Doctor to do his.

But before he did, he flipped through the pages to find the page where he had written his name. He crossed out the long, powerfully ancient name from the page, scribbling out the only traces of the most powerful secret in the universe.

* * *

A/N: In Greek Mythology, the mother of Artemis and Apollo was Leto. Zeus and Leto had a rather violent encounter in which he was a swan and she conceived the twins. (I won't go into the particulars, as it is a rather bizarrely gruesome story, but that's essentially the gist of it.)

Since I found some parallels between Leto and her children and Donna and her child (unplanned pregnancy resulting from some act of violence, though Leto's case was much worse, powerful children, etc.), I decided that since Emily's middle name is Artemis, it would be fitting to give Donna the middle name of Leto.


	46. Days of Atonement: Part 1

Part One

Emily walked into the police box after her father. "Dad, who was that woman?" she asked of her father as her voice resounded among the tall walls that surrounded them.

She marched over to the center obelisk and stared at her father. Her hair, her red hair, like her mother's, flipped over her shoulder angrily. The Doctor stood there, looking at her with interest. "She was no one."

"No one?" Emily echoed with interest. "Dad! The way you looked at her!"

That look she had on her face, the inflection in her voice, the way she said something a particular way, it all reminded him of her mother. It killed him a little bit, a little more, in different ways whenever he could see Donna in Emily. Now, that she was reaching the age of eighteen, she was about to become an adult, out on her own, in the world where he couldn't protect her any more than he had in the past. He couldn't protect the one person he had when she would walk outside those walls that held his world together, out into the world where two worlds collided within her.

"Emily, she was an old friend. That is all," the Doctor explained calmly as he tried to keep to himself all that he had ever wanted to tell his daughter, this creature who he understood very little of.

"Some friend she must've been," Emily scoffed as she marched back towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out," Emily grunted as she swung the door shut behind her.

And, as if instinct, the blue police box started to fade from view, much to the dismay of Emily, who was now standing on the sidewalk parallel to the box, and to the absolute horror of the Doctor, who was now leaving his beloved daughter behind as he went to some other galaxy or time.

"Dammit," both Emily and her father muttered in unison as the police box disappeared.

As her father scrambled to get back to the sidewalk where he unintentionally left her, Emily decided to take this as the best time to head off back to where she and her father had seen this woman before.

Looking both ways as she crossed this street, Emily headed across the street, went about seven blocks south, then four blocks east. She went by instinct, following what she felt was right. When she went the last of the four blocks, she stopped and looked around. Something wasn't right. Something was different, either by a presence she couldn't see, or a presence that had once been there, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

She spun around and saw the red haired woman that her father had been looking at with such interest. It was the presence she could not see. "Excuse me?" the woman asked.

Emily stopped for a moment. There was something about this woman that she didn't quite understand, but she understood something of her. "Yes?" Emily replied reluctantly, even though this was exactly whom she was searching for.

"You look familiar," Donna Noble informed her.

"I do?" Emily answered in surprise.

"Yes. Remarkably. It's almost as if we've met, but I've never met you… have I?"

"No… not to my knowledge."

Donna looked at her intently, staring into those brown eyes that she knew from somewhere, sometime in her past. Why did this girl remind her of her past? What about this young girl with the brown eyes remind her of something of her past? "I think we have met," Donna insisted as she stuck out her hand. "Donna Temple."

Emily stuck out her hand in reflex. "Emily Collins," she replied, using the fake surname out of habit. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Temple."

"Collins? Are you Josiah and Charlotte's daughter?" Donna asked, suddenly realizing where she knew this girl from.

It took several seconds for Emily to interpret the question. To her, her father was never called Josiah, he was always known as the Doctor. Or, specifically to her, he was known as Dad. Never as Josiah though. But, due to their lifestyle as the creatures of time and space, he never shared his true identity with anyone, not even Emily. "Oh, yes, those are my parents," she answered awkwardly.

"He's friends with my mother and grandfather. That must be where I know you from. You're Emily," Donna replied with a smile, mainly out of pride of herself for being able to determine where this girl was from.

Emily nodded as she pulled her long hair back from her face. "Yup, that'd be me," she replied quietly.

Donna, sensing the young girl's discomfort opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Repeating the process, she got a response from Emily. "Do you want to say something?" she asked kindly.

Donna opened her mouth again, but this time sighed. "It feels like I've known you my entire life. I don't know why, nor do I know how, but I know you somehow. And it's more than those photos my mother insists on keeping on the fridge, next to the kids."

"Do you need to be somewhere?" Emily found herself blurting out.

Donna cocked her head. "I'm sorry?"

Emily blushed and shook her head so that her hair fell down in front of her face again. "I'm sorry… do you have half an hour or so, or are you on your way somewhere?" she stammered.

Donna laughed and shook her head. "No, I can spare half an hour. Would you like to go grab a bite to eat?"

"I'd enjoy that," Emily replied with a quick smile that gave Donna the strangest feeling of déjà vu.


	47. Days of Atonement: Part 2

Part Two

The Doctor landed the police box on the corner of some little neighborhood in the outskirts of London. "Suburbia at its finest," he thought to himself as he exited the building.

The houses were all like little cookie cutters in the wash of the pale blue sky behind them. All the green lawns were all mowed tidily, all the trash bins put up against the gates, the houses looking as if they had been cloned and then changed slightly. The most significant differences were the cars out front and the people inside and the occasional different shades of shutters and the plants out front. But even then, that was up for interpretation.

The Doctor walked along the sidewalk, laughing to himself as he laughed at the stupidity of himself. Before Emily was born, he'd thought of moving her to one of these houses, assimilating her to normal life on Earth as a human, to spare her the sorrow he had endured over the last 900 years or so. The Doctor wasn't a stupid man; Emily was the most precious thing he had, and he'd stop at nothing to keep her away from the fate his other children had faced. Assimilation, no matter how dreadful it would have been, would have perhaps been the best way of protecting her.

However, he realized, as he stood on this sidewalk, how confining it would have been, being in this city with so much else to do elsewhere, if the two of them had become like the rest of society. Emily had proven herself to be as brilliant as her father, as sensible as her mother, and as clever as her two parents put together. The thought of Emily being stifled in an environment like this made the Doctor cringe. She was no ordinary child, so an ordinary environment would have been a prison.

As he walked up the street some more, he realized he recognized this place. It had been the neighborhood where Donna's mother and grandfather had lived before she had married. The chills that ran up his spine as he remembered the neighborhood gave him a shiver, but like everything else, he didn't dwell on it, and he pushed on. He arrived at the house, knocking on the door like the instinct in him told him to.

A woman whom he didn't recognize answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked in a French accent.

"Erm, are the Nobles or the Motts home?" he asked kindly.

"No. They have been on vacation for the last few weeks."

The Doctor's sprits fell. "Oh. Well… sorry to bother you. Good day ma'am," he respectfully said as he backed away from the door as the woman closed it in his face.

He walked down the street and past the police box. He walked towards a row of shops, most of which were either cafés or delicatessens that had been there for decades. One in particular caught his eye, so he strolled inside. As soon as he crossed under the threshold, a hand grabbed him and pulled him aside. "She's here," a woman hissed. "They both are."

He turned to see Martha, sitting there across from him. She looked tired, but then again, it had been several years since they last saw one another. "Martha, how's it going?"

"Emily and Donna… they are both in here. They're in the back, at a table, having a snack or something."

"They're both here?" he asked with interest.

The Doctor craned his neck to look around. He finally caught sight of one redhead, and when he figured the other would appear, one did. "Dad? What brings you here?" Emily asked as she stared down at him.

He pulled a face at Martha and then rocked back and forth a few times before turning to look back up at Emily. "Ah… well, I had a bit of a craving for a few muffins, so I decided to stop in," he replied wittily.

"Emily?" Donna asked as she walked over. "Is everything all right?"

Emily turned to look back at Donna. "Oh, yes, everything is fine. Ms. Temple, I'd like to reacquaint you with my father, Mr. Josiah Collins," she replied with a slight gesture towards each person.

His heart sank when Donna stuck out her hand to shake his. He returned the gesture and smiled. "It's lovely to see you again, Ms. Temple," he smiled. "I see you've run into my daughter."

Donna laughed and patted Emily on the shoulder. "Quite a feisty one you've got here. Wickedly smart, I'd say she'd be able to get into any university she'd like. Speaking of such, have you thought what university you'd like to attend?" Donna asked as she directed her question to Emily.

The Doctor was about to interject, about to say that she wasn't going to go to University, but rather, travel the world with him. However, Emily spoke first. "Oh, well, the decisions are perpetually endless. I'd like to go somewhere outside of Britain. Perhaps France or Germany, or even America. I still haven't figured out what I want to do with my life though, so everything else is rather moot until I've gotten that part figured out," she laughed.

Both Martha and Donna turned their look back to the Doctor, who sighed. "Yeah… she keeps me young," he laughed half heartedly. "And, with that being said, Emily, you're not going to America. We'll discuss France, but not America."

Emily turned her chin down towards her father and sighed. "Dad, you are so slow with the trends… besides, I'd love to study in New York City," she replied in an exasperated tone.

Martha laughed. "Ah… teenage girls. Don't worry, it passes. My daughter had her rough patches too," she assured the Doctor as she patted his hand.

Donna turned to face Martha. "Oh, hello there. I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met. I'm Donna Temple."

Martha glanced knowingly over to the Doctor before looking back at Donna. "Hello Donna, I'm Martha Smith. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Doctor glanced at the clock on the wall. He made a noise of surprise before jumping up. "Ah, well, it's been nice seeing you all. I think it would be best that Emily and I be getting home though, it's getting rather late."

All three women turned their look up to the wall. "But it's not even 4 o'clock yet," Donna told him.

Emily interjected. "Ah, well, I've got loads of schoolwork I still have to finish. If I can't convince Dad to let me go to an American university, perhaps a scholarship to one will," she chirped cheekily.

Emily and the Doctor started their way out of the café. "It was nice seeing you all again," Emily remarked as she nodded to Martha and Donna.

The Doctor followed suit. "Same here. Have a good rest of your afternoon."

As the father and daughter walked out of the café, the Doctor said nothing as Emily walked two strides ahead of him. "You know, I don't understand you and your thinking with that little charade back there," he finally said as he caught up to her.

"Dad, you've been trying to keep me from having a relatively normal life for as long as I've been here, and I've got the grades to make it, so why not?" she insisted.

His answer was simple: "I don't want you going anywhere where I'm not, and in order to do that, you have to be with me."

"Dad!" Emily cried out as she stopped up short in front of him. "I may be still a child, but in three months, I'll be an adult. I would like to make something of my own life, without much of your influence."

"Well then…" he replied in a tone that told nothing.

They continued walking back to the blue police station box. Emily pulled out her key and unlocked the door before pushing it open and walking inside. However, he hesitated before he walked in. What were the chances of Donna and Emily ending up in that café, only an hour after he, himself, had come across Donna by chance, only three blocks from there? The only thing he could figure was that something was about to happen that would change not only Donna's life, but the course of Emily and his own life forever.

He couldn't wait.


	48. Days of Atonement: Part 3

Part Three

Donna walked home from the café full of muffin and of joy. Her day had been pretty productive. She had gotten the kids to school, had gotten the dry cleaning, the groceries, gotten the kids from school, gotten the kids to their football practice, and had managed to squeeze in some time for herself during the time between dropping the kids off at the field and picking them up.

Her kids now were walking beside her, one on each side. Marissa, the elder of the two, had her father's dark hair, and her father's eyes. Caleb, the younger of the two, had the lighter hair of the kids, and had his father's eyes. Donna loved her children more than life, and to think of life without her children devastated her. As they kept walking, she shook off the feeling that something was missing in her life, and got her kids home and started dinner.

The life of Donna and her family wasn't bad. It wasn't easy, but not challenging. They were a typical upper-middle class family, with the picket fence life. It was exactly how Donna had pictured it all. She had a hardworking husband who adored her, two beautiful children who were smart and kind, and she had a home and a job. It was how she had wanted it all to be.

Well, it had been how she wanted it all to be. She had never questioned her decisions until she had come across Josiah Collins and his daughter earlier that day. There was something about those two, something that she recognized, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what she recognized about them.

When her husband, Shaun, returned home and had eaten, and then sent the kids up to bed. She was exhausted, he was eager to make love. "Donna… can we please?" he pleaded as he pulled down the bed on his side.

She sighed and pulled down the blankets on her side. "Shaun, I'm perpetually exhausted. I've been running around all day. Not tonight, love."

Donna patted her husband's lap before turning the lights off. Shaun did the same, and they were both lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. A few minutes passed, but Donna couldn't fall asleep, as much as she might have tried. "Love?" she asked out into the darkness.

"Yes," he replied.

"I met the most peculiar girl today. Well, ran into, rather. I've met her before, but she's different now."

Donna turned to look at Shaun in the dim light that the streetlamp was emitting on their bedroom. He was lying on his back, gazing at the dark ceiling above him. "How so?"

She rolled over onto her side and propped herself up with her arm, her hand supporting her head. "She was just so magnificent, as if she were an angel, or something. She reminded me of myself. Even kind of looks like me too."

Shaun laughed. "Was she a talker?" he joked gently.

"No… gosh no… she was so quiet and listened. When her father arrived though, she opened up and was charming and funny. But before he arrived, I talked and she listened and it didn't seem like it could ever end."

Donna sighed as she rolled over onto her back again. "Shaun, I have to see her again. You have to meet her. She's just so… I don't know how to explain it."

"Magnificent?" Shaun supplied.

"Ah, yes," Donna replied as she snapped her fingers in agreement. "Magnificent. Emily Collins is magnificent."

Shaun didn't reply, nor did Donna talk. "Emily Collins?" Shaun asked a few moments later.

"Yeah, turns out that her father, Josiah, is a friend of Mum's."

"Is that the girl who your mother insists on having a photo of on the fridge?" Shaun asked.

"Yes, that's the one. But she's so different. She's so much older now. I mean, she's magnificent in every way. Enchanting, really," Donna explained.

Shaun said no more and fell asleep. Donna couldn't sleep, as much as she tried. Her entire body shook with excitement about Emily. She had to find out everything she could about this young girl, about why she was so special.


	49. Days of Atonement: Part 4

Part Four

Standing on top of a plateau above a green valley below, the Doctor stared off into space as he absently waited for Emily to emerge from the police box. They were out somewhere in the middle of a vegetated planet, and Emily was being particularly stubborn and refused to be of any use to the Doctor.

"Emily? Are you going to be a shut in for the rest of eternity?" he called out.

Emily threw open the door. "For the rest of eternity?" she asked in a scoffing tone. "You're not serious."

He laughed and turned to face her. "No, I'm not, but come on now, look at this. Look at the beauty that surrounds you!" he called out. "Live a little!"

"I've got hundreds of years to live. I'll come back later," she replied as she closed the door to the police box and left the Doctor to himself once again.

"It's just a phase. A phase that will do me in if it doesn't end soon," he told himself with a sigh.

As much as he adored Emily, when she did these sorts of things, he wondered why she was with him. He didn't know what he would have done with her if he hadn't taken her, but he still wondered what he would be doing if she weren't with him. In most ways, she kept him going, but he knew that even if she weren't there with him, he'd still be going along the path he'd been going on for centuries.

He looked out at the valley once again, and found himself thinking of his first children, the children he'd had over seven hundred years ago with his beloved wife, Magdelaene. His eldest daughter, Eleanor, had been so full of life and wonder, she'd get herself in trouble for being too curious and lively. His son, Patrick, had been strong willed and courageous beyond belief, to the point where he had run away to fight in the war. Sophia, his sweet little Sophie, had been the brainy one born with the cleverness that he had acquired over the years he'd lived. Adelaide, their youngest daughter, had been too young to have the full impact of life put upon her, but she was the innocence their family needed.

The Doctor wiped away a tear from his eye as he looked out upon the green lushness of the world around him, reminded of the promise he'd made his young Adelaide. He'd promised that he'd bring her out to this place, where she could run and jump at her own will, among this green and lush place. Now that he was here, with his youngest daughter, she didn't want anything to do with this place. She didn't want anything to do with what she was. She didn't want anything to do with him.

All Emily wanted was to be a normal human with a boyfriend, a credit card, and a flat. She wanted things that the Doctor had no idea existed. She wanted to stay in the present and lead a life that didn't involve jumping around from planet to planet, year to year, and civilization to civilization. It was not her dream to carry on what he had laid down for her. He couldn't understand why she didn't want this life. He couldn't find the answer to his questions as to why Emily didn't want to keep running, why she wanted to stay put in time, with a continual path that went only one direction, to the future.

Emily was not like the other children. She was somehow different. He had had three redheaded daughters with Magdelaene, who was also redheaded. All of his children had been incredibly intelligent. But none were like Emily; she could rattle off facts like she was breathing these facts and could do complex mathematics in her head like a calculator. All of his children couldn't wait to get on the TARDIS, yet Emily couldn't get far enough away from it.

After wiping away the last of the errant tears that he had shed for his deceased family, the Doctor turned to walk back to the police box. He unlocked the box, and walked inside to find Emily reading a book. "Reading?" he asked her in surprise.

She looked up and nodded. "The Bible," she answered.

"The Bible? It had better be one of the first copies published," he joked.

Emily glanced up at him again. "Dad. Please," she pleaded simply before looking back at the book.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be disruptive," he answered as he walked over to the control panel and started to fiddle with the controls. "Is it interesting?"

Emily glanced back up at him, about to lash out at him bitterly, but decided not to. "Um, well, it's very interesting. It's interesting to hear other people's perspectives on things. How much of it do you think is true?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Ah, well, I dunno. I'd think that'd be something you'd want to experience first hand, I suppose. You want to go?"

"And relive the Bible?" Emily finished with an air of disbelief. "I think I'd rather take this as a pretty accurate recount and forgo the trip."

He pushed around some levers and checked the screens. "Okay, suit yourself," he told her. "Like you said, you have hundreds of years to live."

Emily sighed and closed her eyes. She stuck her bookmark into the Bible and put it back into her bag. "Why are you so opposed to me going to America?" she asked him suddenly.

"There's nothing there for you."

"Dad, please don't be difficult. It's a legitimate question. Why are you opposed to me going to America? Is there something there that I am not supposed to find?"

He laughed to himself. "I'd think that you'd already find what you weren't supposed to find if you weren't supposed to find it."

"Why then?" she demanded of him. "What are you afraid of?"

He thought for a moment. He was afraid of virtually nothing. He'd staved off adversaries three or four thousand times his own size. He had saved the universe numerous times. He had regenerated himself after death many times. He had endured the most frightening things that most men would crumble from the fear of it all. And yet, all this time, he had been himself, as he was. The Doctor realized that he was afraid of being alone, and Emily was the only assurance he had that he'd never be lonely.

The Doctor drew in a long breath before sharing his fear. "Emily, you are all that I have."

"Oh goodness… please, not this again," she pleaded. "I've heard this so many times."

"I don't want to lose you like I lost your mother," he added.

Emily stood up and walked across the open room. "My mother?" she asked in interest. "You haven't talked about her in a while. Why do you bring her up now?"

The Doctor paced the room, his hands behind his back. "She's been on my mind a lot lately. Mind you, she's long gone. She's been out of the picture since a few days after you were born."

He realized that Emily didn't know the proper story of what had happened to Donna. This was one of those things that he and River had failed to explain to Emily in the past, partly because she wasn't ready for it, but mostly because he wasn't ready for it. Emily sat up on the control seat like she had ever since she was very young. "Did she walk out on you?"

He shook his head. "Oh no. Quite the contrary. She always managed to find a way to end up back with me, no matter how many times I had tried to erase her memory of me."

She looked at him in shock. "You erased my mother's memory?" she asked in a partially furious tone. "You made her forget about me?"

"It was for her protection. It was so that she could live," he explained, trying to protect his decisions and justify it in terms that Emily would understand.

"And what about me? Am I just some bit of toast crumbs on the ground?" Emily asked defensively.

"I could protect you. I always have. But your mother, I couldn't protect her. It was nearly impossible."

"Nearly? That means that it was possible."

"Of course. I erased her memory of all things pertaining to me or you. Everything. Including people and places she might have been or seen. I had to do that at least five times, the last four times three days after you were born. It was brutal. She refused to forget until the last time."

Emily was silent for a minute or so. She got up from the chair slowly and then stepped down to walk around the obelisk in the middle of the room. "Is that why I'm not allowed to go to America? She is out there?"

The Doctor wasn't expecting this from his daughter, but he figured that this was reason enough to give her. He really didn't have much of an explanation other than he didn't want her to assimilate to the ways of humans without giving her one last chance to get a taste for the lifestyle that he led. He nodded slowly, figuring that this could work out in his benefit and also continue to protect Donna. "Yes, she lives in America."

"Dad, America is huge compared to Britain. It could take ages to find her!" Emily exclaimed. "Why can't I go?"


	50. Days of Atonement: Part 5

Part Five

The following morning, the Doctor found himself back in London. He had let Emily spend the day down in Cornwall, but had taken the police box for himself. He had agreed to meet Martha at a local café, one across town from the one they had been at the previous day. "She's nearly impossible," he muttered as they took a seat at a table by the window. "Almost exactly like Donna."

Martha smiled sadly. "You must miss her," she murmured.

"Sometimes. It comes on whenever I haven't got much to worry about. But with Emily… there really is not a lot of time devoted to missing Donna."

Their tea arrived at the table. After murmuring their thanks, they both took a sip before setting their cups down. "Doctor, just look at it like this. You will look back on these years one day, possibly even go back to them one day, and remember what she's done to you to make you grow as a person. Even if she makes you lose your mind, she's a teenage girl, and this will pass."

"I had three daughters before her. Technically four, but Jenny doesn't necessarily count in this example. But three daughters. Eleanor was perfect in every sense, a little curious, but she didn't get into too much trouble. Sophie was the smart one, wickedly brilliant. Adelaide was the sweet one with the innocence that we had all been seeking out. Don't get me wrong, I adore Emily, but what is wrong with her?"

"She's part human, part Time Lord."

"I doubt that'd have any impact on anything."

"It'd have impact on everything. I mean, you said that being human and Time Lord would kill Donna. So, what happens when you procreate with Donna, and create a hybrid? She isn't normal, you know that, I know that, Jack knows that, and Emily certainly knows that. That's why she's trying to distance herself from your world. She senses that you don't think she belongs," Martha informed the Doctor in startling deliberateness.

"Of course she belongs."

"No… not really. You're still pressuring her into a life of humanity, not Gallifreyan. She's being torn between two species, and you're not making it any easier for her. At least with River…"

"Leave River out of this."

Martha ignored him. "But at least with her, Emily had something to base herself on."

"River was not something Emily could base herself on."

"How do you figure? River was human, you are Time Lord… at least Emily had a representative of the two species she embodies in her life when River was around. Emily doesn't have that anymore. And she needs that, considering that you haven't exactly been patient when it comes to her progress of learning about the Time Lords. No wonder she wants to run away… she's being pressured into a life she's not ready to take on yet."

"She lives here on Earth… goes to school with humans."

"You aren't seeing it. She goes to school with humans and is above and beyond anything that the teachers or school can provide for her. You don't make her one thing or the other, you make her both, and she cannot handle that. You don't know Humanity, and she doesn't know Gallifreyan. You had better hope that Emily and Donna get along because Emily needs that."

"I know she needs that. But I can't do anything while Donna's children are still young."

"Well, the children are now old enough to function as their own unit. Don't take Donna away from them, but maybe do the Chameleon Arch within the next year or so. Emily needs Donna, more than ever now," Martha pointed out.

The Doctor sat back in his chair and took a sip of tea. He didn't know what to think anymore.


	51. Days of Atonement: Part 6

Part Six

Donna was sitting at her kitchen table with her family, quiet and detached from them. She felt bad, she probably should be talking to her kids, but no one seemed to bother with conversation. They were all just eating their bland chicken that Donna had made, trying out a new recipe that would never be used again. Shaun was not trying to make conversation either, so the table was deathly silent.

"Shaun, what is wrong with us?" Donna asked, seeming to forget her children were there.

Shaun looked up at her. "Not here."

"If not here, where? We're out of sync, Shaun."

Marissa spoke in lieu of her father. "You've been distant lately too, Mum."

Caleb only pushed his peas around the plate, wondering why his family wasn't happy like they used to be. He could remember when his mother would laugh and smile all the time, his father would kick around a soccer ball with him, and his sister would spend the entire afternoon blabbering about what her friends said or did. He had found all of this rather tedious, but now that it was gone, he missed it.

"Mari, Cal, why don't you two go upstairs and get ready for bed," Donna said gently.

"Cal? Why are you calling him Cal? You hate when people call him Cal," Shaun pointed out.

"It just felt right," Donna replied hastily because she didn't know why she had done it.

The two children shuffled out of the room and Shaun looked at Donna. "We are falling apart here," Donna murmured to him.

"I'm losing you."

"I lost you ages ago. I know about the affair, Shaun," Donna snapped.

"Well, I certainly hope you weren't surprised about it," he replied, voice full of malice.

"I thought you loved me," Donna hissed.

"I thought you loved me!" Shaun countered. "But all you ever do now is ignore me!"

"Because you've ignored me. I've tried so hard."

"That's hardly the truth, and you know it."

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Shaun."

"Donna, there's nothing to do. I love her."

"And you don't love me? You don't love this life we've built?"

"Donna, it's over. It's been over for a long time."

"Well, we still have the kids. It's not over for them. I would like us to stay together for them."

"I don't know if I want to do that."

"Right. You want her."

"Donna."

"No… you don't get to go back and forth with this. If you want her, have her. Be with her. You don't get both. And you don't get to stay here if you're going to be with her. Either you're with me and the kids, or you're with her. You won't get both."

"Are you kicking me out?"

"Yes."

"Donna… let's talk through this!" Shaun suggested, suddenly quite aware of what this could mean for him.

"There's nothing to talk about. Really, there isn't."

Donna marched upstairs and started packing Shaun's bags. And strangely enough, she didn't care. She wasn't sad. She was concerned about how the kids would take it, but beyond that, there was nothing. It really was over.

There was a strange sense of excitement that sat in her belly, something that promised something bigger, something better beyond the boundaries that her marriage set her in. She could hardly wait to see what it was.


	52. Days of Atonement: Part 7

Part Seven

His name was Riley. He was a rather scrawny kid with messy brown hair, brown eyes, and a slight case of scoliosis, but he was cute nevertheless. Emily had met him in her Chemistry class at the international school she attended in London, and was instantly smitten. Granted, he'd never caught on, and had befriended her even though Emily was somewhat of the laughing stock of her level. Her peers all believed that she was someone to ignore, which is exactly what they did.

One afternoon, Riley and Emily were walking to his house to work on a project. Emily had managed to escape the Doctor for an afternoon, and was pleased to have done so. "Have you talked him into letting you come to America for university?" Riley asked her as they walked along the path.

"Of course not," Emily quipped. "Sometimes I honestly have no idea what's wrong with him."

"He's an adult," Riley replied with a laugh. "Either they're mental or have some idea of what they're talking about. But you can never tell which they are."

"I don't know… Dad's not usually this irrational. You know what he told me?"

"What's that?"

"He told me that my mum is in America."

"Even more the reason!"

"But I don't believe that."

Riley looked at Emily with a look of interest. "Why's that?"

"I think I've met my mum."

"Well, that's good."

"But... oh, I don't know. I don't think it's bad... but I'm not sure if it's overwhelmingly fantastic either. I mean, I think I know her, but I don't think she knows me. Dad was talking about how she wouldn't know me because she had to leave three days after I was born…" her voice faded away when she realized that she couldn't just tell Riley this story.

"She had to leave three days after you were born?"

"Well… sort of."

"How?"

"I'm not sure of the particulars."

"Did you ask?"

"Of course I asked. But you know Dad… he's just a bumble of babble."

Riley laughed again. "A bumble of babble? I don't think I've ever heard you personify your father without something ridiculous like that."

"Well, is he not?"

"He's certainly a bumble of babble… but still. That's weird. You think you've met her?"

"Yeah. I think her name is Donna."

"Donna… the woman you met in the café?"

"That's the one."

"Did you tell your father that?"

"Oh, goodness no… I get the impression that she's a sore subject with him."

"Can I meet her?"

"Why would you want to meet her?"

"Because I've got to meet the woman insane enough to procreate with your father."

"That's awkward."

"Not really."

"How do you figure?" Emily asked, stopping short to look at him.

Riley took a few more steps before realizing that she had stopped. "Oh, Emmy… you don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"You've never known your mum… never knew what happened, never gotten a chance to have your mum wake you up on your birthday with bacon and eggs."

"I've had that though… River, remember?"

"But you said she was like your stepmother and she was kind of a rubbish mum."

"I've never said that!" Emily cried out in dismay. "I said she was rubbish when it came to making stroganoff."

"And French braiding, and painting nails, and making chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies."

"Well, yeah… she wasn't exactly the most feminine of women… she had her feminine wiles of course, but she was rather rough and tumble, a real go-getter."

"But the truth is, she wasn't your real mum."

"She was my mother for all intents and purposes, but I didn't look like her or come from her."

"Right. So, if Donna is your real mum, wouldn't you want to take advantage of that and get to know her?"

"Of course, but I'm concerned about Dad. The fact that he's hesitated bringing up Donna's name explicitly, from what I can recall, tells me something. That he's not ready to talk about her, if this is the first time she's come up in a while."

"Emmy, I hope she's your mum. Because it'd be nice to see that there's someone out there that you belong to."

"I already belong to a few people," Emily insisted.

"Not quite like that."

Emily almost slugged him in the face for that one. It just brought up that he didn't consider her his. All that, even though she was basically the only girl whom he had a close relationship with, and basically the only person who interacted with him because he interacted with her. But no matter… it wasn't worth the fight she knew it would take before he'd finally get that she adored him.

And maybe he could help her figure out exactly what was up with Donna Temple and how she played a role in Emily's life. He certainly was smart enough to figure out the secrets of the universe… maybe.


	53. Days of Atonement: Part 8

Part Eight

Donna felt the house was empty. It had been empty for ages, but it was now that she really saw how empty it was. Shaun had moved out weeks ago, and she was now finishing up with her packing. It wasn't like Donna couldn't keep the house; she simply had no interest in spending any more of her life in the house. It was not a home. It never really seemed like a home, now that Donna thought of it. It had always seemed temporary; fleeting; wasteful even.

The kids were with Shaun that night, so it was just Donna. She packed up what was left to put into boxes and then took a small container of ice cream out of the freezer that she'd been saving for after she was done with packing. She had a terrible habit of being a stress eater, though she wasn't stressed out about the divorce or the move.

She was scared about why she wasn't stressed out about these things. Why couldn't she just be normal for once and be worried about normal things? She wished that she knew why she was so strange and not like the other mothers at Marissa and Caleb's school. She wished her life was different, that she loved Shaun and that Shaun loved her, and none of the events of late had happened. But, that was never going to change, so what was the point. She ripped her ring off of her finger and held it in her hands, not knowing what to do with it.

When Donna finally threw the ring to the ground, stepping away from it like she had of her marriage, she brought her hands up to her face and started to sob. But before she could close her eyes, a faint line across her left palm caught her eye. "What?" she asked herself. "When did I cut myself?"

Her tears were suddenly forgotten and she began to examine her hand. She took herself into the bathroom and started to look at her hand in earnest. It was a strange line, perfectly straight across her palm, healed without pucker, without flaw, but she'd never noticed it before. All the other lines on her hands were like a peninsula, but this was a precise line, perhaps made with a laser even.

She walked out of the bathroom and out into her bedroom once more. She still stared at her hand, and when she got close to where the ring fell on the ground, the line faded. With a gasp, Donna bent down and picked up the ring, at which point, the line disappeared completely. She dropped the ring and backed away, while still examining her hand and the line reappeared. What did this mean?

In shock, she sat back on her bed and stared at the hand and at the ring on the floor. Deciding that it was her eyes playing tricks on her, she repeated the routine several more times before coming to the conclusion that this was not a trick by her mind. There was some strange force behind this.

That night, while Donna slept, she dreamt of a man with thick, dark brown hair and brown eyes and freckles. She knew this man, and she knew that he would know what this line on her hand meant.

The following morning, Donna made it her mission to track down Emily Collins. Emily Collins would know how to find this man. Emily Collins had to be the key to everything.


	54. Days of Atonement: Part 9

Part Nine

Riley had begged Emily to come with him to a local band's show at a café seven blocks east of their school that afternoon, so that was why Emily was stuck, bored, in this café. She rather disliked the band, but had gone along with it because it was important to Riley, and Riley was important to her.

Just by chance, Emily looked out the window errantly as she chewed on a hangnail and she was shocked to see Donna Temple walking past, looking very determined. "Riley," Emily hissed.

She nudged him a few times before he broke his concentration with the band. "What?" he asked.

"I just saw Donna Temple," she told him.

His expression changed from a relaxed position to one of determination. "Why are you still sitting?" he asked her as he stood, grabbed his coat, and then grabbed Emily's hand.

He left a few bills on the table as a tip and then dragged Emily out of the café. "Which direction?" he asked her.

"Left. She was going towards the school," Emily said.

Riley pulled Emily through the crowd and Emily was surprised when his fingers laced through her own. That was new. "Are you seeing her?" Riley asked.

"No," Emily said. "I'm now wondering if I actually saw her."

"I trust your judgment."

"Well, that might be your first mistake," Emily replied sheepishly.

"We'll cross that bridge if we get to it," Riley assured her as he kept leading her through the throngs of people.

It was strangely busy on a Tuesday afternoon in this part of town. There was nothing substantial going on, no special holiday or community event to note, but it was busy. Both Emily and Riley were scanning the area for someone who might fit Donna's description, but to no avail. "We might as well go back," Emily finally said, sounding defeated.

"Or, we could go talk to her," Riley said, turning to grin at her. "That's her, over there, isn't it?"

He pointed at a woman, who was, in fact, Donna. Emily's brow furrowed and she stared at him intently. "Yes… how?"

"You look exactly like her. Of course that's your mother. No question about it."

"Well…" Emily started before Riley pulled her towards Donna.

"Ms. Temple," Emily said as soon as she was close enough to talk to Donna. "Funny seeing you here."

"Emily!" Donna cried out, shocked that she'd found Emily so quickly.

It had only been two days since Donna set out looking for Emily, and now, here she was. "Um, how… how are you?" Emily replied awkwardly, not knowing what she'd say to Donna if she saw her again.

"I'm wonderful. Oh, and for future reference, it's not Temple anymore. Just Donna Noble. But for you, you can call me Donna. None of that Missus rubbish needed with me."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about the… surname change. This is my friend Riley, by the way. Riley Bowen. He's… in my level," Emily explained.

Donna nodded politely to him, acknowledging his presence, but returned quickly to Emily, because she wasn't interested in talking to this skinny kid who looked as though this was the first time he'd ever held hands with a girl, because she'd noticed that Emily's knuckles were going white by how tightly he gripped her hand.

The three walked to a local park, where Donna and Emily sat down on a bench while Riley pursued an ice cream van he'd spied while they walked toward the park. Emily was watching Riley; Donna was watching Emily. "So," began Donna awkwardly, "how is the college search coming along?"

Emily snapped out of her trance of gazing at Riley and whipped her head around to look at Donna. "It's coming… I suppose."

"Why do you say that?"

"I got into Yale… but Dad will never let me go."

Donna's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" she whispered in surprise. "Yale?"

Emily nodded sadly. "Don't tell Riley though… he got in too, and if he knows I got in, I'll never hear the end of it."

Donna mimed zipping up her lips, locking the zip, and throwing the key away. "But still, that's remarkable!" Donna exclaimed.

Suddenly, a loud howling noise rang out from across the green. Turns out, they had heard Riley before they saw him. The noise that he had belted out was sort of along the lines of "AAAAHOHHREOHHHAHHH". When Emily and Donna caught sight of Riley, they saw that a dog was chasing after him, trying to get his ice cream.

Riley looked like he was running for his life. He was a tall, skinny kid with legs like a foal, long, disproportionate, and twiggy, so when he was running, he looked like all legs. The bellowing at the top of his lungs and the concerned looks he was throwing behind him every few leaps sent Emily and Donna into a fit of laughter. Though he had a rather distinguished and deep register as it was, he was still a teenager in the sense that his yelling had more cracks than a shattered mirror, making it nearly impossible for Donna and Emily not to laugh until they were crying.

The dog seemed to not want to break its chase, and Emily stood up. "I think he needs help," she told Donna, who was still recovering from the raucous laughing fit.

A few minutes later, Riley and Emily returned to the bench, with the ice cream still intact. "It was a huge dog!" Riley exclaimed. "It was nearly the size of a Rottweiler!"

"It was a Pomeranian. The worst it could have done was nipped at your ankles until you fell and it could take your ice cream," Emily replied in an exasperated tone.

"It was chasing me. Therefore, it was a threat," Riley replied solemnly.

Emily rolled her eyes and sighed as she sat down. "Are you okay?" Donna asked him.

He nodded as he started to eat his ice cream. "It was a big dog," he muttered to Emily.

"No, it wasn't," Emily replied in a sing-songy way.

Donna interjected before the two teenagers began bickering. "Emily…"

"Yeah?"

"I need your help."

Riley looked between Emily and Donna with interest. "Um… okay… with what?" Emily replied hesitantly.

Donna stuck her left palm out flat between the two teens. "I've never seen this before… but it just appeared a few days ago."

Emily looked down at the palm, examining the perfect line etched into Donna's creased palms. Riley looked from his direction, making a noise of interest. Emily glanced up at him. "What?" she asked him.

"That's not an accidental cut."

Donna made a noise of approval. "Exactly. So, if it's not an accidental cut, something I've never seen before, what is it?"

"But this looks healed over," Emily pointed out suddenly. "If it's at this stage, how have you never seen it?"

Donna held up her index finger, indicating that she needed a second. She pulled forth a small velvet box in which her wedding ring was in when Shaun presented it to her. "Watch this. Riley, I'll need your help for this."

She flipped open the top of the box, the little box making the creaking noise signature of boxes of this nature, and then plucked the ring out of the box. Emily was watching Donna, but gasped when the line went away completely. "No…" Emily whispered. "Dad did that with River one time…"

"What?" Donna and Riley asked in unison.

Emily's eyes widened. "Oh… I said that out loud, didn't I?" she asked. "Never mind."

Riley shook his head. "No… you don't get out of having to explain that."

"It's complicated."

"I doubt it."

"No… really, it is complicated."

"I'm sure I could handle it," Riley replied. "Besides… Donna needs your help, and you sound like you know something about this."

Of the very few things Emily could not stand about Riley, his uncanny ability to point out holes in Emily's arguments was one of the things that really got under her skin. He could debate like no one else Emily knew, and usually got his way because of this weird little gift he had. Sometimes, Emily was tempted to show Riley just how simple he could be sometimes by demonstrating exactly how much of the universe she understood, since she mostly pretended not to understand a great deal of what she understood quite well. Playing dumb was almost necessary for Emily to assimilate to human life, but when Riley started poking holes in Emily's arguments, she was very tempted to put him in his place.

"Don't touch the ring. Take it off, put it into the box, and get rid of the ring," Emily instructed Donna. "It's clearly hiding something."

"But what is it hiding?"

"I don't know, but the longer it's hidden, the less and less we know so we can find out more about it."


	55. Days of Atonement: Part 10

Part Ten

In actuality, Emily knew exactly what was going on with Donna's hand. She didn't know what the scar on Donna's palm was from, but she knew the person directly responsible for doing this to Donna.

When Emily was six, River had gone to an excavation and had left Emily and the Doctor at home. During this time, Emily had gotten a cut on her left leg that was completely the Doctor's fault. Since the Doctor didn't want River's third-degree, he'd stitched up Emily's leg and had taken her to a planet that was entirely one large store. There were several of these outposts around the universe, one being quite close to the planet which the cottage was on, so the Doctor and Emily went to the outpost and Emily was allowed to pick out a bracelet that she would wear all the time so that the Doctor could fashion it into a perception filter so that River wouldn't know about the incident.

Emily wore that bracelet for nearly eight years. When River died, the Doctor released the deadlock he'd put on the piece of jewelry so that Emily couldn't take it off. It was silly to keep the deadlock on the bracelet when it wasn't necessary to do so anymore.

It was interesting to see that Donna had had her ring fashioned into a perception filter. It hadn't been deadlocked, but since it was a wedding ring, he must have assumed that there wasn't much need for that. The Doctor probably had fashioned another perception filter that had acted as a backup in case the wedding ring had failed, because he was that paranoid about these things.

"Emily?" Riley asked her, nudging her a few times.

"Hum?" Emily asked as she shook herself to alertness.

"What do you think might be hidden?" Donna asked her.

"Oh… I don't know. Other than the scar, it could be anything. Maybe an accident you were in or an attack someone wanted you to forget."

"Who would want me to forget?" Donna asked, almost rhetorically.

Riley cleared his throat. "Do you remember any sort of accident you might have been in?"

Donna blinked a few times and then nodded slowly. "I don't have memories of an entire year… it was nearly twenty years ago, but I don't remember any of it."

"Would you have worn that ring twenty years ago?" Riley inquired.

Donna shook her head. "Oh, heavens no… Shaun and I got married eighteen years ago. Close, but not quite," she explained.

"And you have kids?"

"Two. Marissa and Caleb. Brilliant kids, I love them so much."

"Two?"

"Yes. Two."

"Hum… I would think that you would have a lot more kids than two. You seem like the kind of woman who really likes kids."

"I couldn't have kids so we used a surrogate. Since it was time intensive and we already had two beautiful children, we decided to stop after Marissa and Caleb," Donna replied defensively.

"Oh. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to pry," Riley replied apologetically.

"No harm done… it's just frustrating sometimes when people ask why we didn't have more kids when it was such a huge to-do when we had them. But you're fine. Natural curiosity- I can tell you have a touch of it."

Emily was staring down at her left leg, examining the faint scar that ran from her ankle bone to her knee cap. She didn't even remember what had happened, but she knew that she'd cried for a long time and the Doctor had freaked out under the pressure of the situation. She suspected that he'd had one of his larger gadgets out and was repairing them while she was running around as she played inside because it was raining.

She must have zoned out again because Donna nudged her gently. "Are you okay?" she asked kindly.

Emily nodded. "Sorry," she remarked. "Just thinking about that ring and what it might be hiding."

"What might it be hiding?"

Emily shrugged. "Objects can hold memories. I don't mean that the objects evoke memories, but rather, the objects actually store memories, like a USB flash drive."

Riley was now looking at Emily with keen interest. "Emmy… what are you talking about?"

Emily held out her hand for Donna to give her the box. "I'm saying… this ring might be more than it seems. A wedding ring is incredibly powerful and meaningful… so of course it might be the best place to store memories…"

"What?" Donna and Riley asked, again, in unison.

"Emmy, are you okay?" Riley asked, now very concerned about what Emily was saying.

Donna's eyes darkened in confusion towards what Emily was talking about. "How does that even work?" she asked Emily.

"It's tricky… but I'm sure if I could take a better look at the ring, I could figure it out."

"That's insane. What you're saying… well, that's… not even remotely possible," Riley scoffed.

Emily pushed her hair out of her face as she glanced fluidly up at his earnest gaze, locking her intense blue eyes upon his tenacious brown ones. "Not everything is explicable or fits into the laws of terrestrial science, Riley. Sometimes, things are magnificent and are beyond your wildest dreams."


	56. Days of Atonement: Part 11

Part Twelve

With Riley out of her hair and ring in pocket, Emily returned to the TARDIS with one goal in mind: figure out what was so important about a cheap-looking ring that Donna had been wearing for the last eighteen years.

Emily was beyond questioning if she was Donna's daughter; it was almost certain that she was. The greater question was: why would the Doctor hide a cut? Something important must have happened when that cut was made, though Emily had very little to no idea what could have had such adverse effects and scared the Doctor so much that he felt it was necessary to hide the evidence.

She thought about the planet she was born on: Appares Acwin. The Doctor refused to return to the planet, though she was almost certain he'd promised River that he'd take her to the planet before she left for her final archaeological expedition. She knew that the physical forces that ruled the planet were virtually opposite to those on Earth, thus making the colony the Appares Acwinians created on Earth a failure.

She tried to remember some of the customs that the Appares Acwinians had. She knew that they held the TARDIS in reverence, but there were many cultures that revered the TARDIS. Emily could recall that mates were made based on how each partner could counterbalance the other. This recollection led Emily to seek out marriage customs, thus leading her straight to the very custom that brought about her conception, the slice and joining of two palms.

_Well, good to know that someone's mastered impregnation via blood transfer_, Emily thought sarcastically.

When the full realization of the true nature of this situation hit her, she felt slightly relieved, but mostly sick to her stomach. Donna and her father had married on that planet. Emily had been conceived on that planet, probably not with consent either. Donna had been married to her husband for eighteen years while Emily was only seventeen. What exactly had happened to make that even possible? Was Donna pregnant with Emily when she married Shaun, or had this been something that had happened after Donna had married?

Of course, the Doctor was away from the TARDIS when Emily realized this, so she was tempted to just take the TARDIS and go. But when she thought of the repercussions of doing this, she thought it unwise to do so, and refrained. However, she knew exactly where River's Vortex Manipulator was.

After surreptitiously plugging in coordinates, Emily plunked herself down at the cottage in which she grew up. It hadn't changed one bit, which was a relief for someone who witnessed constant change. She pulled out the key to the house that she always wore, and hurried to the front door. When she unlocked the door and opened up the house, she was greeted with the lingering presence of River, through the smell of the house and through the aesthetics of the home.

By the layer of dust all around the house, Emily could tell that it'd been a while since this house was cleaned. It was clear that the Doctor hadn't been here in a while, or if he had, he certainly didn't care about doing the cleaning. She needed something to focus her energy on, so she decided that she would spend her afternoon cleaning the house.

She had an ulterior motive for coming home. She suspected that answers would lie in this house, because she knew that River must have had some sort of idea of the circumstances in which Emily came about. After doing a quick walk through the house, determining the workload she'd just decided to take on, she ventured to River's study.

She had fond memories of this room. It was one of the brightest rooms in the house, other than the living room, Emily's bedroom, and the kitchen. The rest of the house was bright, given all the windows and light color schemes, but those four rooms were extremely bright. Along the walls of the study, row upon row of books gripped to the wall on the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Emily could remember poring through most of the books on the first, second, and third bookshelves when she was younger; these were the only shelves she could reach when she was very young.

Emily was not necessarily interested in the books on the shelves, not now at least. She had one book in mind, and it was not likely to be found on those shelves. It was a small book, something like the TARDIS in book form, the thing that River wrote in religiously. If Emily could find that book, she was sure that she'd find answers that she'd been looking for.

After searching high and low for the book in the study and not finding it, Emily walked out of the study feeling somewhat defeated. She'd been certain that the book would be here.

Despondently, Emily sank into a chair in the living room and kicked off her shoes. She was starting to regret leaving Earth, leaving Riley on the sidewalk after giving him an earful. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know about Emily's life; she never spoke about it with good reason. She was already a freak to everyone else as it was, and now, she'd just alienated herself from Riley, her only ally.

Staring up at the sky through the skylights, Emily thought about bringing him here, to this place. He always complained about living in London and showed interest in going up to Scotland to explore the Highlands, just to get out of the city and into nature. What a better place to bring him: the beach and surrounding areas to the cottage were virtually desolate with the nearest thing to civilization being at least an hour's drive away.

She doubted that he'd ever come to this place though. How bonkers would he think her if she showed up with the Vortex Manipulator and told him that she was going to take him across the universe? How bonkers would he think he was when she actually did it? She doubted that he would even talk to her again, let alone run off to a different time and different place with her.

And then she caught sight of the book. It was stashed up on a shelf in the living room, next to a Torah, a Bible, a Quran, other religious texts, and one book containing all the religious texts in the Human Empire. With a yelp, Emily hopped up and dashed to the shelf. She plucked the book off the top shelf, scurried back to her post in the chair.

Pulling herself into a criss-cross-applesauce seated position in the chair, she flipped to the first page and began to read. The first page she encountered was Donna's plea to River, confirming her suspicions.

After she read the first page, she closed the book. She didn't want to read anymore until the house was cle


	57. Days of Atonement: Part 12

Part Twelve

With Riley out of her hair and ring in pocket, Emily returned to the TARDIS with one goal in mind: figure out what was so important about a cheap-looking ring that Donna had been wearing for the last eighteen years.

Emily was beyond questioning if she was Donna's daughter; it was almost certain that she was. The greater question was: why would the Doctor hide a cut? Something important must have happened when that cut was made, though Emily had very little to no idea what could have had such adverse effects and scared the Doctor so much that he felt it was necessary to hide the evidence.

She thought about the planet she was born on: Appares Acwin. The Doctor refused to return to the planet, though she was almost certain he'd promised River that he'd take her to the planet before she left for her final archaeological expedition. She knew that the physical forces that ruled the planet were virtually opposite to those on Earth, thus making the colony the Appares Acwinians created on Earth a failure.

She tried to remember some of the customs that the Appares Acwinians had. She knew that they held the TARDIS in reverence, but there were many cultures that revered the TARDIS. Emily could recall that mates were made based on how each partner could counterbalance the other. This recollection led Emily to seek out marriage customs, thus leading her straight to the very custom that brought about her conception, the slice and joining of two palms.

_Well, good to know that someone's mastered impregnation via blood transfer_, Emily thought sarcastically.

When the full realization of the true nature of this situation hit her, she felt slightly relieved, but mostly sick to her stomach. Donna and her father had married on that planet. Emily had been conceived on that planet, probably not with consent either. Donna had been married to her husband for eighteen years while Emily was only seventeen. What exactly had happened to make that even possible? Was Donna pregnant with Emily when she married Shaun, or had this been something that had happened after Donna had married?

Of course, the Doctor was away from the TARDIS when Emily realized this, so she was tempted to just take the TARDIS and go. But when she thought of the repercussions of doing this, she thought it unwise to do so, and refrained. However, she knew exactly where River's Vortex Manipulator was.

After surreptitiously plugging in coordinates, Emily plunked herself down at the cottage in which she grew up. It hadn't changed one bit, which was a relief for someone who witnessed constant change. She pulled out the key to the house that she always wore, and hurried to the front door. When she unlocked the door and opened up the house, she was greeted with the lingering presence of River, through the smell of the house and through the aesthetics of the home.

By the layer of dust all around the house, Emily could tell that it'd been a while since this house was cleaned. It was clear that the Doctor hadn't been here in a while, or if he had, he certainly didn't care about doing the cleaning. She needed something to focus her energy on, so she decided that she would spend her afternoon cleaning the house.

She had an ulterior motive for coming home. She suspected that answers would lie in this house, because she knew that River must have had some sort of idea of the circumstances in which Emily came about. After doing a quick walk through the house, determining the workload she'd just decided to take on, she ventured to River's study.

She had fond memories of this room. It was one of the brightest rooms in the house, other than the living room, Emily's bedroom, and the kitchen. The rest of the house was bright, given all the windows and light color schemes, but those four rooms were extremely bright. Along the walls of the study, row upon row of books gripped to the wall on the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Emily could remember poring through most of the books on the first, second, and third bookshelves when she was younger; these were the only shelves she could reach when she was very young.

Emily was not necessarily interested in the books on the shelves, not now at least. She had one book in mind, and it was not likely to be found on those shelves. It was a small book, something like the TARDIS in book form, the thing that River wrote in religiously. If Emily could find that book, she was sure that she'd find answers that she'd been looking for.

After searching high and low for the book in the study and not finding it, Emily walked out of the study feeling somewhat defeated. She'd been certain that the book would be here.

Despondently, Emily sank into a chair in the living room and kicked off her shoes. She was starting to regret leaving Earth, leaving Riley on the sidewalk after giving him an earful. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know about Emily's life; she never spoke about it with good reason. She was already a freak to everyone else as it was, and now, she'd just alienated herself from Riley, her only ally.

Staring up at the sky through the skylights, Emily thought about bringing him here, to this place. He always complained about living in London and showed interest in going up to Scotland to explore the Highlands, just to get out of the city and into nature. What a better place to bring him: the beach and surrounding areas to the cottage were virtually desolate with the nearest thing to civilization being at least an hour's drive away.

She doubted that he'd ever come to this place though. How bonkers would he think her if she showed up with the Vortex Manipulator and told him that she was going to take him across the universe? How bonkers would he think he was when she actually did it? She doubted that he would even talk to her again, let alone run off to a different time and different place with her.

And then she caught sight of the book. It was stashed up on a shelf in the living room, next to a Torah, a Bible, a Quran, other religious texts, and one book containing all the religious texts in the Human Empire. With a yelp, Emily hopped up and dashed to the shelf. She plucked the book off the top shelf, scurried back to her post in the chair.

Pulling herself into a criss-cross-applesauce seated position in the chair, she flipped to the first page and began to read. The first page she encountered was Donna's plea to River, confirming her suspicions.

After she read the first page, she closed the book. She didn't want to read anymore until the house was cle


	58. Days of Atonement: Part 13

Part Thirteen

Emily appeared in the bushes of Riley's home at half-past-eleven o'clock that night. She had tried to be sly and suave in her landing, but she was still only a novice when it came to using the Manipulator. When she gathered her composure, she scurried over to Riley's window (his room was on the first story) and she tapped on his window. To her delight, he was still awake, and he turned around to see her standing at his window, waving like an over-eager child.

He looked puzzled when he came over to the window and opened it. "Emmy, what are you doing here? It's almost midnight!"

"I know, and I'm sorry… but I want to show you something," she replied quietly.

"What?" he asked her. "Your hearts? Photos from the inauguration of the human/cat hybrid president?"

She stared him down with a look that instantly humbled him. "Sorry," he muttered. "You've got to admit, you were a little mental earlier."

"I wasn't the one being mental. You didn't handle that well at all. I'm glad I didn't tell you earlier given what I know now," Emily stiffly replied. "You would have gone running for the English Channel if I had told you any sooner."

"Or the Highlands," he suggested.

"Right. Are you coming or not?" Emily asked impatiently.

"Sorry?"

"Are you coming or not?" she repeated.

"Where are you going?"

"It's not a matter of where I'm going; it's a matter of where we're going."

"Well… okay, where are we going?"

"I want to show you something."

"Such as…? You're enjoying the suspense."

"It's something I can't really explain to you. And it's something I can't really bring here to show you. But I found something that might help Donna."

His expression turned to interest. "What?"

"It's a book. Well, it's a lot of books, but they all sort of say the same thing. I think I've got answers for Donna, but I'm not sure if I am supposed to tell Donna about them now."

Riley stepped out of the window. "Where are you going?" she asked him.

He stopped and picked up a jacket from his desk chair. "I suspect I might regret this," he admitted.

"It's not without danger. But you trust me, right?"

"Yes, but my trust is almost irrational."

"Well, some of the deepest sorts of trust are irrational. You don't know why you trust someone, but you do," she replied.

He was now pulling on his shoes. "Will I need anything else? I get a funny feeling I should be bringing a knapsack or something."

"You can, if you want."

"Should I bring a tent?"

"I don't think the tent will be necessary."

"How about a sleeping bag?"

"If you want."

"A compass?"

"Riley… don't over-think it."

"How about a torch?"

"You could."

"Food?"

"Probably not a bad idea, though I don't think we'll be gone that long."

"Water?"

"Sure."

"Dictionary?"

"No."

"Computer?"

"Not a bad idea… though, I'll have to do some adjusting so your computer isn't a defunct technology when we get there."

"Defunct technology?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Where is there?"

"The house I grew up in."

"And there's a chance that my computer will be defunct technology there?"

"No, there's not a chance… your computer will definitely be defunct technology there," she corrected him.

"Okay… how about a toothbrush, toothpaste, retainers, etc.?"

"Go with your gut," Emily finally told him.

He nodded curtly and started gathering up some odd items. Emily crouched down against the side of the house to wait for him. When she finally saw the faint light turn off, she turned to see his leg was sticking out the window. "Am I going to kick you?" he whispered blindly.

"No," she replied as she stood up and grabbed his hand.

He was wearing his glasses and had his backpack on. She could tell it was stuffed with things, but not overstuffed. "You managed to remember your glasses," she remarked.

"Yeah… and my wallet too. I guess bringing along an ID wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I doubt you'll need it, but maybe it's a good idea."

"I brought my passport."

"I'm pretty sure you won't need that either."

"Well, I'm being proactive."

"When are you not?" Emily laughed quietly.

"True. That's what being an Eagle Scout means… always be prepared."

"Right…" Emily said. "Okay. I'm going to need you to link arms with me. I'm going to be transporting us out of here using this Vortex Manipulator, and just to warn you, it's unlike anything you've ever experienced before. But it's quick and simple, and we should be at the cottage in about a minute. So, hold on to all of your gear, and let me set the coordinates, and we'll be on our way."

"Wait, Vortex Mani—"

Emily pushed the button. "—pulator?" he finished. "Whoa."

They were standing in front of the cottage, out in the meadow, at dusk. He turned to look at her with wide eyes. "You aren't serious," he said in awe. "Are we in Ireland?"

"Far from it. Riley Bowen, welcome to the 51st century."

He let out a squeak. "The 51st Century?" he asked slowly. "How?"

"Time travel," she replied simply as if it were nothing, because to her, it really wasn't.

"Time travel?" he echoed.

"Riley, you've just learned almost everything there is to know about me."

"I seriously doubt that's the case," he said as he hopped to keep up with her as she started towards the house.

When she unlocked the door and let him in, she could see that his face was sheet white and his eyes were still huge. She flipped on a light and walked through the living room. "You grew up here?" he called after her.

"Yeah. Make yourself comfortable. We're going to be here a while."

"Wait… we have school tomorrow."

"Time travel, Riley," Emily called out to him.

"But I'm not even sure if this is real," he murmured as she walked back into the room.

"It's real."

He jerked around to look at her as she walked toward the kitchen. "Emmy… this can't be real. This is too… normal… to be the 51st century."

"Oh, you're not seeing everything else. Believe me, it gets weirder the farther you get from the cottage," she assured him. "Tea?"

"Sure, thanks…" he replied airily as he sank into a chair.


	59. Days of Atonement: Part 14

Part Fourteen

The tea helped Riley cope with the shock of being pulled across thirty centuries from what he knew to what he most certainly did not know. After Emily tinkered with his computer with the sonic screwdriver the Doctor had fashioned for her (it had a pink light rather than the blue or the green), she gave him the grand tour of the house.

"And this is River's study. We will probably need some books from there later… oh, right there is my room. And that room up there was Dad's room. The big room at the end of the hall was River's room. And over there, that was the workshop… still full of really cool gadgets if we need them. Oh, and that's the pool in that room down there. And upstairs, that's the observatory. It has a really powerful telescope that Dad was able to repair to working order. I think you'll really like to take a look at the telescope later. That's the kitchen, that's the dining room, that's the laundry room, that's the library… that's the greenhouse… that's the porch, and that's the door to the beach…" Emily said over the course of their ten minute tour.

"Are all houses like this?" he asked her.

"Some of them are… but when you get into the cities, they get to be pretty minimalistic."

"This seems a little archaic compared to some of the houses I've seen in the 21st century," Riley admitted. "I'd expect more technology stuff."

"Well, River never found any need for that sort of stuff. Most houses are more modernized than this one. River was an archaeologist and found happiness in keeping the techy stuff out of her home. She surrounded herself and us with books and other creature comforts of days long gone."

Riley wasn't paying much attention to what Emily was saying. He was looking at the artwork on the walls. "I drew stick figure people… you drew stick figure aliens…" he observed with a laugh. "You really are an alien aren't you?"

"For all intents and purposes, yes. But if you want to be technical about it, I'm half human, half Time Lord."

"What planet are Time Lords from?"

"Gallifrey. But that planet's gone now."

"What happened to it?"

Emily shrugged. "Dad doesn't talk about it much."

"Do you have a language?"

Emily nodded and took in a long breath before letting forth a long stream of rhythmic and fluid noise that didn't sound like anything Riley had heard before. "What?" he asked with a laugh.

"Exactly," she replied with a giggle. "Just so you know… English isn't my first language. Most of the time, I don't speak English."

"What do you speak?"

"Gallifreyan, of course."

"So, English is your second language?"

"No, it's actually my seventh language."

"Seventh?"

"Yup. I learned Gallifreyan, Spanish, Swahili, Latin, Gaelic, one of the dialects of Appares Acwin, and then English."

"And I thought Spanish and French were impressive."

"They are," Emily replied with a smile.

"But compared to seven languages…"

"Well, it's more like twenty now."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Okay… I feel a little inferior now."

"Don't. Different playing fields. Don't feel inferior."

"Emmy… twenty languages… that's intense."

"But it isn't really… the TARDIS helped a little…"

"What's the TARDIS?"

"It's a proper time machine/spaceship/home."

"I feel like you have been holding out on me all this time."

"You don't even know," Emily replied with a hint of a chuckle in her voice.

The rest of the night, Emily and Riley were busy poring through books and trying to unlock the secrets to this strange situation. Emily was learning more as she read through River's journal again, but was still unsure where to go from there.

It was nearly mid-morning when Riley returned with another two mugs of tea. "How long do you think we've been at this?" he asked her as he sat down.

"Nearly nine hours," Emily replied with a yawn. "Thanks."

He nodded in reply and sat down next to her. He considered asking her what she meant by her remark about being in love with him that she had made almost an entire day ago. But he thought that in the grand scheme of things, that remark was probably not the most important thing that he should ask at this moment. "Can Donna know about this?" he chose to ask instead.

"It doesn't sound like it. I mean, that first journal entry makes it pretty clear that this has been going on for a lot longer than I've existed. It might even explain that year that Donna claims not to have any memory of."

"That makes sense. But wouldn't your dad know all about this?" Riley pointed out. "Have you asked him about this?"

"You would think I would have," Emily replied sheepishly. "But I haven't."

"Why?"

Emily sighed contentedly. "It's kind of fun keeping Dad out of this. It's much more fulfilling figuring this stuff out for myself."

"But he'll need to help us at some point, right?"

"Yeah… eventually. Maybe."

"I wonder what happened to make your dad take Donna's memories away," Riley said after a lull in conversation.

Emily turned to look at him. "River always said it had to do with the Daleks."

"The what?"

"Oh, right… there hasn't been an Earth attack in a few years. Daleks are the most merciless war machines in the universe. Dad's greatest enemies. Look like salt and pepper shakers, but like Crayola had their way with them. I defeated a few when I was four."

"What?" Riley asked with a laugh.

"Someday, you'll understand," Emily assured him.


	60. Days of Atonement: Part 15

Part Fifteen

As Riley was finding out, Emily was a lot smarter than she had ever let on. She understood physics more complex than he'd ever heard of and appeared to make time work for her. "So, you're telling me that you could go back and change something you did wrong and make it right?" he asked her that evening after they had slept all day.

"No. Never. It's not allowed. You're never supposed to go back and change something on your personal timeline. Things get too complicated."

"Wow… that's a bummer… I could think of all the really stupid things I've done that I would go back and change."

"Believe me, you wouldn't want to do that."

"Why's that?"

"You wouldn't have learned anything, and you might possibly change the entire course of your life because of it."

"Have you done this? You sound like you're talking from personal experience."

"No, I'm not stupid enough to play with fire like that," Emily sniffed.

"Well… Miss Master of Time…" Riley joked.

"Time Lady," Emily corrected him quietly.

"Right. Time Lady."

Emily stood up from the desk she was sitting at, scribbling down notes in her natural Gallifreyan long-hand that she used whenever she was not writing in English or the other various Earth languages she'd picked up. "I'm starving. What about you?" she asked Riley.

He nodded. "I have some pear slices."

Emily considered the pears before shaking her head. "No… no pears. I'm sure I can find something around here."

Something that the Doctor had established at the house was a food-by-demand system, so that they never wasted food and could always have what they needed at hand. It had been quite useful when Emily was younger and had gone through her picky phase where her tastes changed nearly daily.

When Emily pulled forth from the grey-green box a bunch of tomatoes, some bread, some mozzarella cheese, some basil, and a small bottle of olive oil, Riley stared in awe. "You're kidding, right?" he asked as he gravitated toward the food.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked as she started to wash the food.

"That's unreal. It really is unreal."

"It's pretty real though…"

"I know, but this is kind of overwhelming."

"That comes and goes."

"Really?"

She nodded as she now turned her attention to slicing the tomatoes and de-seeding them. She heard a noise behind her, coming from her bag, and she knew it was the Doctor trying to get a hold of her via the communicator. "Yeah?" she said into it as soon as she grabbed hold of it and answered.

"Where is the Vortex Manipulator? Jack wants to take a look at it," the Doctor said as soon as he got Emily on the communicator.

"I've got it."

"Well, where are you?" the Doctor asked. "I'll come get it."

"I'm at River's house."

"Why?"

"I wanted to get out of London for a little while," Emily lied, realizing that if her father knew that Riley was with her, she'd certainly face some sort of interesting punishment.

"Well, I'll come get it then. I'll be there in a few minutes," the Doctor said before hanging up.

Emily's eyes were wide with terror as she turned to Riley. "We've got to get out of here," she whispered.

"Why?"

"My dad is coming, and I'm not sure how he'd feel when he shows up and sees you're here with me, unattended."

"Unattended? He knows we're friends…"

"Yeah… but the only times he's ever seen you were when you and I were with other people. This is considerably different."

Riley realized what she meant and his eyes also widened with terror. "Oh… right… yeah… I see what that would look like to him. But… well, given recent developments— which by the way, we'll need to talk about at some point— that might not be good."

"Forget might not be good… it will definitely be very not good. So, you understand the need to get out of here?"

"And go where?"

"I haven't the slightest clue. I'm making this up as I go."

"Hum… those plans usually turn out interestingly."

"Yeah. Let's go," Emily said, wanting to get out of her father's hair before he could find her.

She'd return the Vortex Manipulator, but with Riley very far away from her father. She wasn't sure if the Doctor liked Riley all that much, and she wasn't about to put Riley up for sacrifice to the temper of her father.

They gathered up what few things they needed, including a few books about Appares Acwin and River's journal. With a few quick calculations and calibrations, Emily and Riley disappeared from the scene.

"Um… Emmy… is this London?" Riley asked her as soon as they reached their destination.

Emily looked around. "No."

Both teenagers looked around at their surroundings and found that they were in a city high up in the mountains that overlooked a beautiful blue ocean. The cities below them looked to be in ruins, but not ruined recently.

Emily wondered why Riley would think this place would be London. It was clearly not London… but what was this place?


	61. Days of Atonement: Part 16

Part Sixteen

"Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

"I love how you think I'd know."

"Well, you've made it clear that you're aware of these sorts of things."

"Well, I'm not perfect."

"You've got that right," Riley mumbled under his breath. "Should we go look around?"

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

Emily put the books she was holding down on a rock near her and sat down next to them. "I get a weird feeling about this place."

"Me too. But it's a good weird. It's kind of like being at the top of a roller coaster and you're about to shoot down, screaming bloody murder."

"I'm afraid we don't share that feeling," Emily informed him. "I think we need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"This isn't a good place."

"It looks fine to me," Riley said, looking around at the wilderness.

"Yeah, but when have looks been reliable?" Emily asked with a biting eye-roll.

He sighed and sat down next to her, dropping his bag on the ground. "What's the worst that can—"

"NEVER ASK THAT QUESTION. EVER," Emily said as she clamped her hand over his mouth. "That's basically the question that triggers all chaos in the universe. Never ask that question. Never, never, never ever!"

She let her hand drop from his mouth. He let out a nervous laugh. "Okay… I'll never ask that question. Never, never, never ever!"

"Good. Now, let's get out of here before the universe decides that it's time to play with us," Emily said as she stood up and started to recalibrate the Vortex Manipulator.

She started murmuring cuss words when she couldn't adjust the Vortex Manipulator. "What?" Riley asked as he stood to go see what the problem was.

Emily's eyes flicked up at him. "I can't adjust the Manipulator."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't go anywhere," she said as she looked up and around them. "Somehow, this planet has disabled the Manipulator and we can't leave. Well, this is just fantastic."

Emily sat down on the rock again with a heavy, curt, and defeated sigh. "Why would a planet do that?" Riley asked as he sat down next to her.

"There's probably some strict interplanetary immigration rules we've just violated or something," Emily explained somberly. "Dad is going to kill me when he sees me next."

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Emily nodded slowly. "I think that's a church on that hill over there," she said as she pointed to a large white building across the way from the mountain they were on.

"That's a church?" Riley asked, squinting because he'd forgotten to put on his glasses.

"Yeah… I think maybe that's our best bet."

"But shouldn't we use that… thingy that your dad called you on to get a hold of him to see if he can help us?"

"And risk the TARDIS? If we can't get out with the Vortex Manipulator, he it'd be questionable if he'd be able to get out with the TARDIS."

"Well, maybe he could help us with this," Riley huffed defensively.

"I appreciate your thinking, but I don't know how that would be a good idea."

Riley was poised to say something in response to Emily's remark, but felt that it wasn't necessary to say right then. So, he closed his mouth, and decided to let Emily lead the way. If he got to experience something a little out of the ordinary, he figured it was best to let Emily do this.

They started walking along a narrow path through the mountains. "It's not Earth…" Emily called to Riley, who was a few steps behind her. "Earth doesn't have the technology or the universal standing to blockade entire planets. It won't have that until the Human Empire branches out beyond the Milky Way."

"Do humans keep living on?" Riley asked as he got closer.

"Yeah… there will be humans until the end of the universe."

"There's an end?"

"Of course. All things end."

"That's… harrowing, I suppose."

"Have I ever told you that you are the King of Understatements?" Emily laughed. "That's harrowing, I suppose. I think the best bit is that you suppose that it's harrowing. You've got to be more decisive."

"I am decisive," Riley replied indignantly.

"Really? When we went to the café the day we found Donna, it took you four minutes to decide between a blueberry muffin, a cranberry muffin, and a chocolate muffin. Four minutes! And then, in the end, you decided to get a chocolate chip cookie!"

"It was a very good chocolate chip cookie. I regret nothing."

"Yeah… but you're indecisive. Along with being the King of Understatements, you're the Dauphin of Indecision and Emperor of Obviousness."

"Yeah… well, you're the Time Lady of Confusion," Riley countered.

Emily stopped and looked at him with a quizzical look. "That's really the best you could come up with?"

"Hey now…"

"Just saying."

Another twenty minutes of walking passed and the two reached an area that looked to be an altar of some sort. Emily sat down to see if she could recalibrate the Manipulator while Riley took a look around. "Emmy?" he called out.

"Yeah?"

"You'd better come look at this."

She put the Vortex Manipulator into her pocket and walked over to where Riley was. "Read this," he said, pointing down at an engraving into white stone.

As she realized, it was in English, which was strange. Written things on alien planets were never in English unless they were tied to the Human Empire through colonization of English speakers. Even then, the languages usually changed drastically, depending on the conditions in which the colonists lived. It read:

"In this convent, on Hale 2341, Emileah's Echo was born to the Lady Donna Leto Noble. The event was brought forth by the appearance of the foretold blue box and the attacks upon our planet. The cities below have not been rebuilt in respect to the great event that occurred when our cities were destroyed. Emileah's Echo has not since returned to Appares Acwin since her birth, but prophecies foretell that Emileah's Echo will return."

Emily looked up at Riley, who was now grinning. "Appares Acwin… that's something. That's gotta be more than a coincidence, right?"

"No… Riley, that's not good. That's very, very, VERY not good," Emily groaned. "And why is it in English?"

"What?" he asked.

"If we're on Appares Acwin, that means that, in order to keep to their guidelines of mating all persons on the planet, we'll have to be mated. And quite honestly, I adore you, but I don't want to marry you," Emily hissed. "And that shouldn't be in English."

His face blanched slightly. "Oh… well… that's something. What does Hale 2341 mean? Is that an address or something?" he asked, completely disregarding Emily's concerns about the plaque being in English

"It's a date. It roughly translates to the Gregorian Calendar as May 2nd, 2011. Or, in other words, my birthday."

"Don't tell me you're Emileah's Echo," Riley muttered. "Because I wasn't expecting you to fulfill prophecies or anything when I agreed to come with you last night… was it last night?"

"I think so."

"But are you Emileah's Echo?"

"I might be."

"Well… okay. What is Emileah? And why does it need an echo?"

"Emileah was the first queen of Appares Acwin. In fact, Appares Acwin was originally 'Aparece A Queen' in Spanglish, which translates to 'A Queen Appears'. Emileah is the patron goddess of the planet."

"And you're supposedly the echo of a patron goddess?"

"Maybe. Did you not read the section of that book I told you to read last night?" Emily asked in a scolding manner.

"Emmy… you gave me a lot to read last night. I can suck up a lot of information like a sponge, but like most sponges, I can't take it all in."

She nodded like she'd heard this all before… "Right… so, Sponge Boy, we're on Appares Acwin, and I'm not up for marrying anyone right now. But, we now know that that's a convent up there on the hill. Maybe I can use my supposed Goddess-Echo status and see if we can bend the rules a bit and get out of here."

Emily started up the white marble steps to the convent but Riley stood, glued to the spot. "Come on," Emily cajoled him like he was a dog.

"Emmy… what does it mean if you return?"

"You think I'd know? I've only been to this planet once in my life and that was when I was born."

"Right… so what would that make you… what do you call people from here?"

"I'm not Appares Acwinian. I'm a citizen of the universe, and that's all."

Both continued up the stairs to the convent, to which Emily was greeted first by a nun with beautiful silver eyes, then by a nun with green eyes. "Blue eyes," the first nun remarked, in English.

"He has brown eyes," the other nun pointed out, also in English. "They're not from here."

The nuns ushered the two teenagers into the convent, the large, airy halls adorned with blue accents. "Take her to Mother Lusa," one of the nuns said to the other. "I think the time has come."

"And what about him?"

"I'll prepare him."

When Emily heard this conversation, she stopped and grabbed Riley's arm. "No. Do not follow them," she hissed before pulling him down another hall and out of the nun's stead.


	62. Days of Atonement: Part 17

Part Seventeen

It was only after Emily had deadlocked she and Riley into a large stone room that she spoke. "We've got to get out of here. Soon."

"Clearly. What were they going to prepare me for?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know."

"Okay then."

Emily pulled the communicator out of her pocket and set it in her lap before she went about trying to sonic the Vortex Manipulator so she could get them off the planet. A faint moan came from a corner of the room. Riley stood up out of instinct, and Emily followed suit. "Oh… my head…" the voice said. "Is anyone there?"

"Yes… it's okay… what is your name?"

"I… I don't know… I don't know my name… oh, my head…" the voice said faintly.

Riley silently pointed to an alcove near the window. Emily nodded once and then walked over to the corner. Her eyes widened as she glanced up at Riley. "What?" he mouthed.

"Donna," Emily mouthed.

Riley dashed over to see that, in fact, it was Donna. "How did you get here?" Emily asked her, crouching down next to Donna.

"I… I don't know… I don't remember… one moment, I was doing laundry… and the next, I was here."

"And they put you in a closet?" Riley asked in confusion.

"I don't think anyone knows she's here. They would have recognized her if they knew she was here. Riley… go get my communicator. Punch in 13647 dash 36733 and then come back here, please."

"What does that do?"

"It's a homing signal."

"Homing signal? For what?"

"Situations like this."

"Emmy, I think you've been holding out on me. Okay… so put in 13647 dash 36722?"

"No… that's the number for pizza on Poosh."

"What is it then?"

"13647 dash 36733."

"Okay."

He ran off to go set off the homing device, and Emily stayed with Donna. "Donna… your name is Donna… do you remember that?"

"I need the… Doctor… the Doctor… and the… TARDIS…" Donna said faintly. "My husband… I need my husband…"

Riley returned, holding the device in his hand. "I brought it over in case we need it again. Donna, you're going to be okay," he assured the woman who he was certain was the mother of his best friend/ possible girlfriend.

"Where's my baby? My little baby… they took her from me… and I haven't seen her… I just had her… a few hours ago… and I haven't seen her…" Donna said in a weak voice.

"She's delirious and has a ridiculous fever. I mean, it's like touching a hot tea kettle," Emily remarked to Riley quietly. "Anything from Dad?"

"Not yet."

"Ugh! He follows me around the universe, and the one time I actually need him, he's off tinkering about at Torchwood!" Emily cried out angrily. "Oh… wait… Torchwood. Jack. Get Jack. That's 257589345."

"What was that?"

"257589345," Emily repeated in a slower tempo. "It will get you straight to Jack. Tell him we have a Donna problem on Appares Acwin and that Dad needs to get here right away."

"Right. Okay… wait, will I… oh, there's someone there… hi… this is Riley Bowen… Emily's friend. We have a Donna problem…"

Donna gripped Emily's hand suddenly. "Emily?" Donna asked in surprise as she suddenly clicked to recognition. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to figure out why you're here," Emily replied with a quick and terrified smile.

She was beginning to understand why the Vortex Manipulator had brought them to the planet.


	63. Days of Atonement: Part 18

Part Eighteen

The TARDIS materialized in the deserted side-hallway of the convent on Appares Acwin. The Doctor and Jack came running out of the TARDIS, followed by Martha and her medical kit. "Emily?" the Doctor called out.

Riley poked his head out the now de-deadlocked door and ushered the three adults into the room. "She's over there," he said, pointing to Emily and Donna in the corner.

The Doctor stopped up short, and nearly felt his chest explode. "Oh, Donna…" he remarked sadly as he ran to her and scooped her up into his arms. "Get to the TARDIS."

Jack helped the Doctor with the nearly-unconscious Donna while Martha ushered the two teenagers into the TARDIS. This was it.

Riley was perhaps the very first human in the history of the Doctor's travels with humans not to have noticed that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside as soon as he stepped onboard. It wasn't that he was terribly in-tune with alien technology; it was because he was rather oblivious and was completely focused on Donna's deteriorating state.

The group hurried to the Med Bay, where the Doctor put Donna on a bed and started to hook her up to various machines in the room. One of these machines was the Chameleon Arch.

"Will this work, Doctor?" Jack asked as the Doctor was making final checks on everything.

"I pray that it does," the Doctor murmured under his breath. "Dammit! Where's her ring?"

Emily stepped forward from the back counter of the Med Bay. "Do you mean her wedding ring?" she asked as she started to dig through her pockets for the box.

The Doctor spun around to see Emily procure a small box that he recognized to be a ring box. "Yes… her wedding ring. Why do you have it?"

"Riley and I've been helping her with stuff. She let me take the ring. You really thought that the perception filter would keep her from finding out?"

The Doctor was shocked to find that Emily was briefed and ready to go with the volatile situation he'd been preparing for, but not actually ready for. "Can I have the ring?" he asked her, ignoring her question.

Emily handed over the ring, watching as the Doctor fitted the ring into the groove where a fob watch might have gone if these were normal circumstances. But everyone was well aware that these were not normal circumstances, so they all let the Doctor do his job in peace. "We're going to go up to the Console Room," Martha told the Doctor.

"Okay. I'll come get you when I know."

Jack, Martha, Emily, and Riley left the Doctor to his repair of Donna's mind. It seemed like hours of waiting, which it was, and everyone was getting restless. "How on earth did you two end up here?" Jack asked Emily.

"Plugged in what I thought were the coordinates for London. Ended up on Appares Acwin. Did you know that I'm apparently the echo of a Goddess?"

"Gawd… you've got your father's ego, haven't you?" Martha laughed.

"But I'm serious… there's a plaque out there, saying that the daughter of Donna Leto Noble… wait, Lady Donna Leto Noble, born on Hale 2341, was Emileah's Echo. Am I Emileah's Echo?"

Jack nodded. "It's likely. I mean, after being born two days after a major attack by some of the cruelest beings in the universe, it's pretty likely that you're something important to the Appares Acwinians."

"So… what does it mean?"

"I'm sure we'll find out," Jack replied in an exhausted tone.

Riley leaned over and muttered into Emily's ear: "So… this means that we're probably not going to be back in London anytime soon."

"No, we'll just put ourselves back in London only a few minutes after we left. That way, you can go to sleep and stop griping about missing a second of school."

"School is important."

"But this is important too."

"Right. But, how are you going to get into an American university if you can't compete with people in America?"

"I've got my ways, Riley. I've got my ways." Emily made note to tell Riley about the acceptance into Yale at a later time, since she'd been putting it off for a while in the hopes that she could bring the Doctor around and see her point in the matter.

Another hour passed, and finally, they were done waiting. Fortunately, just as they were about to get up and go do something slightly more productive, the Doctor left the Med Bay, leaving Donna to sleep, and came walking out with a grin. "It worked," he remarked with an overwhelming relief.

Jack, and Martha jumped up ran towards the Doctor. Emily and Riley stood aside, Emily trying to stay composed so that she might be able to properly meet her mother for the first time; Riley was trying to make sure that Emily didn't flip out. But Riley himself was trying not to flip out, because this too was important to him. This was possibly one of those really important things that had ever happened to him, by far the most important thing that had ever happened to Emily, and therefore, important to him. Donna was about to meet her daughter and Emily was about to introduce herself to her mother.

"Can we go see her?"

"Not yet."

"Oh, you jest," Martha cried out indignantly.

"I've just repaired burnt neuroses and have changed her entire metaphysical being so that she is completely human again… that's certainly—"

"She's human?" Emily asked from behind everyone. "Why not just make her a full Time Lady?"

"I tried that, but she nearly died. As I've discovered, you can't create a Time Lord from a human, or any other living thing for that matter, from the Chameleon Arch. The genes won't be stable. So, I nearly killed her by making her a Time Lady, and I had to start over completely, wiping away all traces of Time Lord from her genetics. It took three times as long as it should have, but it's worked. Let her rest for a little while, an hour or so, at the very least."

But when the time came that Donna was awake and able to have visitors, Emily was allowed to be the first. When Emily stepped into the Med Bay, Donna's eyes lit up and shone with tears. "Oh my gawd," she murmured as she pulled Emily into a hug. "You look just like him… and me, and him, and both of us all together… I'm so sorry for that, by the way."

Donna laughed through her tears as Emily started to cry herself. This was… so completely foreign to Emily, to have her mother able to hug her, to finally be with her, that she had no idea what it meant to be her mother's daughter. Everything she'd learned from River about being a daughter was being rewritten, even though it didn't need to.

Another half hour passed, and Donna was finally able to find composure. "And Riley… he's just a skinny streak of nothing, isn't he?" she laughed quietly.

"He's a skinny streak of everything," Emily corrected Donna sheepishly. "He hasn't freaked out about the TARDIS yet."

Though, almost exactly on cue, Riley came running into the Med Bay. "Emmy… what is up with this place? There are at least eighteen stories that I've seen so far, and I've lost count!"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Your timing is impeccable, Sponge Boy," she joked.

"Time Girl," he replied with a mature gesture of sticking his tongue out at her.

The Doctor walked into the room right after Donna. "Ah, young love," he remarked as he sat down on Donna's other side.

"Yeah… I've got to go give him the grand tour, it appears," Emily said as she looked from one parent to the next. "I'll leave you two to it. I suspect that Donna here is going to want to give you hell about the last twenty years."

She hopped off the bed and strode across the room. "Sponge Boy, where have you gone?" she called out before she turned back to face her parents and gave them a cheeky wink.


	64. Days of Atonement: Part 19

Part Nineteen

Dawn came twice for the time travelers still on Appares Acwin. The first dawn brought Riley accidentally hitting Emily in his sleep (he batted at her face thinking he was being attacked by the Pomeranian again) and Emily grumbling something in Gallifreyan.

The second dawn brought the Doctor coming around to wake them all up. "Dad…" Emily grumbled as she swiped at his face sleepily.

"Come on… got to get out of here," he told her as he nudged her with his foot.

"I don't want to get up," Emily said as she curled up in a ball and closed her eyes tightly.

"Emmy… it's time to get up and deal with the nuns who are now outside the TARDIS looking for you."

Emily's eyes opened fully and she sat up, nearly elbowing the sleeping boy next to her in the nose. "They're looking for me?" she asked in complete alertness.

The sleepy boy sat up and blinked a few times before registering that he recognized where he was. "Yeah… Goddess Echo," he quipped.

"Shut it, Sponge Boy."

"Are you going to keep calling me that?"

"Of course."

"Great…" he said with a sigh, yawn, and then groan as he stood up. "Well, let's go see what's going on."

"Sponge Boy, the guy who is afraid of anything too strenuous, is ready to go see what nuns from another planet are up to?" Emily asked in surprise.

He turned to look at her intently. "I'm not as worthless as you'd like to think I can be. I've got the gall, I've got the drive. I'm not any better than you, but I'm not any worse than you either."

"I've never said that you were worthless. But you're scared of cell phones and you hate anything with high fructose corn syrup," Emily reminded him.

"There's nothing wrong with not liking those things."

"And you're like a twig and hate anything terribly extreme. Remember dodge-ball in gym class."

Riley shuddered at the flash of a memory, but countered with: "You're skinny and you're shy."

"What's your point?"

"It's the same as yours. What's your point?"

"Good lord… Riley, will you just realize that this is potentially very bad… and you're off wanting to investigate everything."

"I came with you, didn't I? And I've stayed."

"I appreciate that, but I've had more experience with this than you. I know things about the universe that you wouldn't ever want to know."

"Like what?"

"I just told you that you don't want to know."

"Emmy, I've got a strange sort of curiosity about these things. You know that."

"And I know what you can handle and what you can't handle. I don't think we should go out there. Who knows what will happen?"

The Doctor watched his daughter assert herself to someone who she held in high regard, something that he knew was difficult for her because she was very shy, though no one in the TARDIS at that moment would believe it. Donna stood by the Doctor, still admiring what had become of her streak of nothing, how he'd become someone who was finally someone she'd see herself with, even though he looked to be twenty years her junior and wore a bowtie. "She'll be fine," Donna murmured.

"Yeah… but I don't think this is something she's done before. I'm certain that she's never told him off like that."

"He's a good kid."

"He is."

Donna laughed. "That's all you have to say about him?"

"He's a teenage boy. That's all you really have to know about him."

"But surely you know more than he's just a teenage boy that Emily likes," Donna stated. "And he might be a little insane too… going off across the universe with Emily like that is just mental."

"You did it."

Donna turned her head to look at him. "Oh gawd… I did…"

"And now you're here. Again."

"I am here again," Donna said with a smile as she pulled the Doctor into a hug.

It was good to be there again.

"So… are we going to be going out of here?" Donna asked. "Let's go find out the nuns' deal!"


	65. Days of Atonement: Part 20

Part Twenty

Riley looked as though he was just dying to ask a question of Emily. Emily picked up on this. "What do you want to ask?"

"Why was Spanish your second language?" he asked her quickly. "I mean, of all the languages you could learn…"

"River was Spanish. She never actually spoke English. She knew English, but never spoke it. The TARDIS always translated the Spanish into English or Gallifreyan for Dad, but to me, it was always Spanish. That's how the TARDIS taught me languages."

"What?" he asked breathily.

"You sound surprised."

"You might want to get used to that," he told her sheepishly. "So she was really Spanish? They had Spaniards then… in the future, I mean."

Emily nodded. "Just because there are cat/humans in the future doesn't mean that there aren't nationalities. In fact, there's a planet devoted to Spain itself. Not Barcelona… though that's a cool planet, but a planet full of Spaniards. You might like it."

"What is it called? Planet Spain?" he laughed. "Planeta Espana?"

"No… you would think…it's actually called La Tierra, which when it's a proper noun like that, means Earth. The Earth, to be exact, not dirt like the regular noun translates to," Emily explained. "But it's not Earth… just to make that clear."

"I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again: you've been really holding out on me," he informed her pointedly. "You've really, really held out on me. How do you know all this stuff and then just not tell me it!"

Emily only grinned at him mischievously. Donna and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, hand and hand, talking quietly. Donna looked a little overwhelmed by everything, but was pleased to be back. The Doctor, on the other hand, hadn't shut up (except for when he was eating and everyone was sleeping) since Donna was able to get up and move about in the TARDIS.

Reacquainting Donna to the TARDIS had been an interesting experience because the Doctor had to try to remember the schematics of the last version of the TARDIS so he could compare the old TARDIS to the 'new' TARDIS. He'd taken for granted the last seventeen years with this TARDIS and had gotten quite comfortable with not having to show people about. Now, he had four people who were requesting tours.

While Donna was busy talking with Martha, the Doctor glanced over at Emily, who wore the same euphoric expression as her mother. This was Emily in her element: impending adventure, with family and friends, in the calm before the unknown storm. This was Donna in her element: with the Doctor, on a different planet, being whisked around the universe with friends and family. This was the Doctor in his element: family, friends, a different planet, and suddenly, a lot more to be grateful for.

As the group of people stepped foot onto Appares Acwin from the TARDIS, Donna let out a quick gasp as she gripped the Doctor's hand tightly. "Are you okay?" he asked her in fearful concern.

"I remember this… I'm fine… I just remember this."

He laughed. "Well, that's good!"

"I remember you having to wipe my memories multiple times…" she then added quietly.

The Doctor didn't reply immediately. He weighed that statement, rolling it over and over in his brain before finally settling on what he was going to say. "You've always been strong enough to counter me in things like that. But in that case, I'm glad you didn't."

Emily walked past, talking to Riley in a flustered mess. "No… that can't be right… it's virtually impossible!"

"How is that impossible, but everything else like that isn't?" Riley replied in an equally flustered tone.

When they passed and rounded the corner around a cliff-face (Emily had moved the TARDIS onto the mountainside where she and Riley had arrived the day before), Donna leaned over to the Doctor and muttered: "What do you think is impossible?"

"Well, I suspect it's because he's trying to see if he can float due to the gravity inversion here. He's amused himself with making his shoes float, but I think, like myself, he would like to know why he doesn't just float away like his shoes," the Doctor replied. "He's a very strange kid."

Donna nodded. "I can see why she likes him."

Suddenly, a scream rang out from where Emily and Riley had gone off. The Doctor and Donna both set off in a run to go see what was going on. When they stopped up short, Emily was yelling in the local dialect of the region. "Let me go! I'm Emily Collins, and I DEMAND that you put me down, RIGHT now!"

Riley was hitting the large man who had Emily in his grip, though Riley's efforts weren't doing much, as this man was nearly twice the size of Riley. "Let her go!" he yelled, feeling like he should be focusing on what Emily was saying so he might be able to yell at the man in the language of the region.

The Doctor and Donna approached the man, Donna looking like she was about to attack the man if he didn't put Emily down, the Doctor looking like he was about ready to explode this part of the planet if the man didn't put his daughter down. "Put her down," the Doctor growled in English. "Now."

The man looked at the Doctor questionably, then to Donna, then to Riley, and then considered putting Emily down. "She has a price on her head," the man remarked.

"Well, she's been over-appraised!" Riley shouted as he gave a few more futile kicks to the man's legs.


	66. Days of Atonement: Part 21

Part Twenty-One

Fortunately, Jack and Martha were still in the TARDIS when Donna, the Doctor, Riley, and Emily were all taken prisoner in the convent. The Doctor didn't know exactly how this was fortunate, but he figured it was best that two less people were being carried off to the unknown like this. He only hoped that Martha and Jack would stay where they were until he could get this sorted out.

Emily was taken away from the rest of the group and taken to a large, room with luxurious white accents. There was a large bed covered in soft-looking cloth in the shade of blue that could be found in the oceans of Appares Acwin and in some of the finest specimens of aquamarine on Earth. In the corner of the room, there was a large wooden chest of pale wood, maybe made of wood from the beech family—if there were beech trees on Appares Acwin.

The women who had ushered Emily into the room had told her to put on what was in the chest and they would return in an hour. So, now, Emily was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the chest, wondering if she should do what the women instructed her to do.

Her curiosity got to her, as she finally succumbed to looking in the chest. She pulled out a long swath of silvery cloth that flowed over her fingers in a river of fiber and weave. When she pulled the length of the cloth out of the chest, she realized that this was a wedding dress. Hesitantly, she brought it up to her body and discovered that it was seemingly made for her. Her first thought was that given what she knew about the Appares Acwinian policy for marriage and mating, any new unmated visitors would be mated, she was about to go off to marry the brainy twig that had been insane enough to agree to run off with her in the middle of the night.

She didn't have to marry Riley. She could refuse; she could use her now-confirmed status as being Emileah's Echo to squiggle herself out of this situation. She hadn't the slightest clue as to what would happen if she refused, if she ran away again, so with much reluctance, she resigned to the idea that she would be getting married today. _At least_, she thought,_I'd have a better excuse to go to America for university if I were married to Riley. _

About a mile east of where Emily was preparing herself for what was presumably a wedding ceremony, the other three prisoners were standing in a similar room, though had no idea why they were there or what had become of Emily. Riley was pacing the room while the Doctor was busy trying to get contact with Emily through his communicator, and Donna was busy looking out the window. Riley was frustrated that neither of Emily's parents seemed to be as concerned about the lack of Emily's presence. "Are you not going to fight?" he finally exclaimed to the two adults.

Both Donna and the Doctor looked up at him. "We're locked in a room that's been deadlocked. I don't have the TARDIS and I've only got the sonic screwdriver. I don't think they'd kill her," the Doctor replied calmly. "We're doing what we can."

"Calm down," Donna urged Riley.

"She's somewhere on this planet, alone. I'm not going to calm down. I'm supposed to be at home three days ago!"

The Doctor looked at Donna. "Emily did a rubbish job at explaining time travel to him, didn't she?"

Donna laughed gently. "We've done this sort of thing a few times," she assured Riley. "If anything drastic happens, we would know."

Instead of sitting down, Riley began to slow his pacing and began to bob back and forth while he whistled tunes from what Donna soon realized were from The Sound of Music. She hadn't been aware that Riley was in the right generation to know what The Sound of Music was, since neither of her children had seen the movie, nor knew what it had been about. The Doctor glanced up at Riley. "You're not good with situations like this, are you?" he remarked.

"I should have stayed home…"

"Well, you didn't, so resign to your fate and do something less… noisy," the Doctor replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Donna was taken aback by this remark from the Doctor. "Doctor, I've never heard you tell anyone to resign to their fate…"

"Well, in this instance, I am."

"Why?"

"Emily knows what she's doing."

"What?" Riley asked from the corner he had found and had been bobbing around in.

"She thinks it's a wedding, per her message on the communicator."

Donna stood up and hurried over to see what the Doctor was referring to. "A wedding? Hers?"

The Doctor nodded. "She says that there is a very suspicious dress they've put her into."

"If people are dressing her, how is she able to communicate with others? If they're holding her hostage, shouldn't they have taken away her means of communication?" Riley asked.

The Doctor waved around his own communicator. "They're not necessarily concerned with security here, apparently."

"But if they want Emily, why wouldn't they have taken away the communicator?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I doubt they would actually be dressing her."

This answer seemed to appease Riley, who took a seat across the room, at the window, so he could stare out at the scenery. Donna and the Doctor remained silent, although both had plenty to say to the other.

It was nearly twenty minutes later when the Doctor jumped up in alarm, spooking both Donna and Riley. "What is it?" Donna asked him.

"A wedding."

"Right… we knew that."

"No, Donna, you don't get it… a wedding here is a mating ceremony. Like what we had. You're mated for life."

"Right…"

"I don't think you're seeing it… Emmy and Riley arrived here in a pair."

Riley's eyes widened. "You're not implying that I'm going to be marrying her today, right?"

Donna didn't like his tone. "What? Is my daughter not good enough for you?"

He shook his head in alarm and waved his hands in the same manner. "No, I'm not saying that. Not at all… I'm just making a remark about… oh wow. I am so far away from home, and I might be getting married today. That's… just something."

"We're not letting you two get married," the Doctor said stiffly as he fiddled around with the communicator.

"Though, we think that you're a charming young man," Donna added with a look of frustration thrown at the Doctor.

"We need to get out of here," the Doctor informed them.

Riley snorted. "That's what I've been telling you!"

"When have you been telling us that?" the Doctor replied.

"Well… maybe I've just been thinking about telling you that. But still."

"Can we get out of here?" Donna asked the Doctor.

"We might be able to utilize our past to get out of here, but in regards to getting Emily and Riley out of here, that might be a little different. They have strict protocol when it comes to mating people on this planet."

"Well, isn't that just fantastic," Riley muttered.


	67. Days of Atonement: Part 22

Part Twenty-Two

Emily was standing in the wedding dress now, her hair being combed back into some ceremonial hairstyle so the headdress she was required to wear would go on properly. The three women who were preparing her were not nuns from what Emily could tell. These were probably women who were courtiers, given the way they spoke. It was clear that these women didn't speak English nor knew what English was. Emily was relying on her linguistic skills and was surprised at how much she knew.

Two of the women were working on her hair. They remarked at its color and how curly it was as they combed through it and pinned it into place. The third woman was busy applying makeup, or what Emily presumed to be makeup, along with crystals along her eyes. If this weren't a borderline-hostage situation, Emily might have enjoyed this and might have been excited about this attention. But, since it was that it was, Emily felt as though this were torture. She was hypersensitive to the combs pulling her hair, how it almost felt like they were yanking through the curls and catching the knots as they went. She felt constricted by the makeup that was being applied.

When one of the nuns came for Emily, she was wearing a large box-hat, something that she'd seen when she witnessed Ferdinand and Isabel's wedding in the 1490's. The Spanish damas had worn these headdresses, and now Emily felt as though she were one of these damas, being whisked away for what she suspected to be her own wedding. Of all the many ways she knew how to escape situations like this, she couldn't figure out which one would be most productive.

Emily was led to a large blue cathedral-sort of room, adorned with beautiful blue crystal accents filling the room. Emily was instantly reminded of a little pencil sharpener that River always had with her, a blue glass sharpener that looked almost like an inkwell. The glass was as blue as some of the best examples of sapphires on Earth. She vaguely recalled her father's stories about how he and her mother came to be married. As instinct and as an act of precaution, she curled her fingers into her palms and kept her fists firmly clenched.

"Emileah," a woman murmured as she bowed her head.

Emily looked at the woman, finding that she was nearly a head shorter than herself, and wore a deep blue garment that skimmed the ground. Looking around the huge space with lofty ceilings, Emily realized that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people wearing the same color of clothing, all doing the same thing. The gentle hum of the large number of people murmuring "Emileah" flowed around the large space, bringing Emily to the point that she was about to run.

Meanwhile, back in the room where the Doctor, Donna, and Riley had all been taken, Riley was about ready to break open a window and throw his self out of it, just so he could get out of the room and go find Emily. The Doctor was nearing the end of his patience, and Donna was concerned that the teenager would actually break a window to get away. "Riley, please stop," Donna urged him.

"Emily hasn't responded to the Doctor's last message. She could be anywhere, having anything happen to her!"

"Oh, would you hush?" the Doctor's voice asked. "She's defeated the Daleks for goodness' sake! She can handle herself!"

"Those aren't Daleks, from what I've heard! The nuns didn't look to be attacked by Crayola crayons or anything!"

Donna stood up. "She did what?"

"She's fine."

"How do you know that?" Riley asked the Doctor defiantly. "How do you know she's fine? She hates being in places where there are a lot of people, as well as being with people she doesn't know. Who knows what is out there?"

"Why did you go with her?" The Doctor asked him seriously.

"Emily defeated the Daleks?" Donna asked angrily. "You let our daughter near the Daleks?"

Riley glared at the Doctor, finding for the first time something to be angry about. He'd never lost his temper before, and now, here he was, on some alien planet, about to defy everything he'd ever done with his life and yell at a figure of authority. "Why the hell do you think I went with her? She's the only one who actually gives a damn about me, and I've been rubbish at showing her that I'm not worthless."

"You want to prove that you're not worthless?" the Doctor asked Riley.

"Of course! All I've ever been is worthless. I just ask questions… I never do anything productive! I can't even convince her to apply to a school in America because you control every aspect of her life! You never let her breathe, never let her live… and now I find out that she's got years to live, and you're stifling all of that. What is the point of being so damn smart, so damn able, if I can't do anything with any of that? So yes, I want to prove to her that I'm not worthless. Because Emmy can have anyone and anything she could ever dream of while I'm stuck in my little cookie-cutter life in London, ostracized from my peers because I took a chance and now she tells me she's in love with me… when that's all I could have ever hoped for…"

Donna looked as though she was going to smack the Doctor for ignoring her, but let her anger go when Riley started to let a flood of words out of his mouth. The Doctor, realizing that this matter was much deeper than he had originally thought, let out a sigh. "I can assure you, you're not worthless. Far from it. Emmy's got a good sense about people, and if you were even the slightest bit worthless, she wouldn't have you in her life. So, you can relax about that," the Doctor assured Riley before turning to Donna. "Yes. Emmy was four, she defeated the Daleks single-handedly, although River did put a laser-shooter in her stuffed animal, Mr. Snuffle-Waffles, and she took down a few of them. Not a particularly stress-less day, but rather impressive show from a four year old."

"What?" Donna squawked. "You put Emily in a situation where she'd have to face Daleks? Are you mad?"

"First of all, she was kidnapped, and second of all, she was only gone for forty minutes," the Doctor explained.

"Forty minutes? You lost our child for forty minutes?"

"River put a GPS system into Mr. Snuffle-Waffles, so we knew where she went, so it wasn't completely bad."

"You. Let. Our. Daughter. Be. Kidnapped. By. The. Most. Terrifying. War-Machines. In. The. Universe… and that's not completely bad?" Donna asked, now suddenly enraged.

"It was thirteen years ago! She's fine now… well… maybe not at this EXACT moment, but she's fine. She didn't die!"

"How on earth did you let the Daleks kidnap her to begin with?"

"It just happened. I really can't tell you more than that, because I don't really know much more than that!"

Before things could get much more heated, a knock came upon the door. A nun walked into the room, followed by two other sisters, all three women holding bundles of clothing. "Emileah has made a request for your presence at the ceremony."

Each time traveler was handed a bundle of clothing before the three nuns left the room. "Are we supposed to dress in these?" Donna asked.

"Ceremony?" Riley asked.

"Emileah?" the Doctor remarked in interest. "Well… I guess we'd better get down to that ceremony. Maybe we do change into these so we can blend in and get Emmy and get out of here."


	68. Days of Atonement: Part 23

Part Twenty-Three

His name was Alessandre. When Emily first saw him, she thought that she'd met the male version of herself: tall, red-headed, lanky, confused, and secluded. But when she met him, she realized this was definitely the male version of herself. "Hello," he murmured as he bowed to the ground, letting his forehead touch the ground. "I am Alessandre, Crown Prince of Mariana Tertiary."

When Alessandre did not stand, Emily went down to both of her knees and brought his head and torso back so she might examine his face. "Alessandre," she murmured. "I need your help."

"And I need yours," he replied.

"Can you get me out of here?"

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.

He now sat straight, his weight now shifted back to his calves, mirroring Emily's position. "I am not supposed to be here," she replied quietly, as there were several other people in the private chambers she had been brought to.

"But the prophecies all said that when you returned…"

"Alessandre, I've never heard of these prophecies."

"But you were born on this planet… surely the oral tradition was passed to you."

"I am not Appares Acwinian. Your oral traditions were never passed along to me. But, if I recall correctly, the prophecies note that I left when I was only days old… you're looking at me with a look that concerns me."

"Emileah's Echo… you… are to marry the seventy-fourth crown prince of the region in which you were born. The prophecies all noted it. I am Alessandre, the seventy-fourth Crown Prince of Mariana Tertiary, the region in which you were born."

"Well, that's just not going to work," Emily replied defiantly. "Last time I checked, I wasn't planning on marrying anyone, especially not any princes. I'm sorry, but I'm not marrying you."

"Emily, may I call you that?"

"Of course. You could call me Boris and the meaning would remain the same. Names are just names."

"Boris? Have you seen the Boris flowers? The Boris flower is scarlet with a slight spot of green in the center. The petals are all clumped together—hundreds of petals per flower, even though the flower is only about the size of your palm—they're quite lovely."

"Flowers named after odd male names, predetermined spouses… this planet just gets better and better," Emily replied sardonically. "Look, I really do need to get out of here. I have friends and family I must be returning to, and I can't marry you. I never plan to return to this planet ever, and I doubt that you'd enjoy London much."

"What is this London you speak of?"

"Home. So… can you get me out of here?"

"Emily, by what the prophecy mandates, we must get married. You have returned, I am of marriageable age, and we are to be joined. There is no avoiding this."

"What if I were to kill you?" Emily asked, surprised by just how quickly such a dark statement came forth.

"Well… that would be considered treason."

"Not Appares Acwinian, remember?"

"Emily, do you not find me pleasing?"

"A bloke that looks just like me? Oh no… it's quite lovely. Just like looking into a male mirror of myself," Emily replied, her voice dripping with the burning oil of sarcasm. "Just like marrying my twin brother."

"We are unique, you and me. People with red hair are a rarity, and those born with blue or brown eyes are thought to be prophetic and are often given high positions in society."

"Which is why you're the seventy-fourth Crown Prince of Mariana Tertiary?" Emily asked dryly.

"That was just by coincidence. My family has ruled as royalty since the Early Days."

"Okay. But you have to understand… I can't stay here."

"Why?"

"I don't belong here. I have never belonged to this place. I belong to a cottage by the sea on a planet a millennia away from here. And then, I belong to a place called London. If I wanted to be the Crown Princess of somewhere, I'd marry a prince from Earth."

Alessandre sat down next to Emily and took her hands into his. "Emily, if I do not marry, the High Council will not let me take power. My father died two years ago, and the state of Mariana Tertiary—"

"I will not marry for political reasons."

"Emily."

"I have done many things and will do many more things, but never will I ever marry for political reasons. You can find someone else to do that."

"But I cannot."

"Alessandre, have you ever been in love?"

"What an odd question to turn to," Alessandre remarked.

"But have you ever been in love?"

"Of course."

"Okay… have you ever loved someone so much that you fear not knowing how things will turn out if you continue on the path you've decided to take?"

"Constantly."

"Then how on earth can you tell me that you wish to marry me?"

"It is my duty."

"To your… post. Not to you heart."

"You assume that I am not in love with you."

"And I assume that you're smarter than that. You don't know me. For all you know, I could be a highly volatile person with homicidal tendencies."

"You are the daughter of the Doctor. You are the daughter of Lady Donna Noble. You could never be those things."

"How do you figure? I've killed before."

"To save others."

"And what's to say that I wouldn't kill you to save others?"

"You ask too many questions."

"You don't ask enough."

He watched her with intent. "Emily… what is your objective with all of these questions?"

"You love someone. I know it. I'm a telepathic creature, and I know that you love someone. Auren… her name is Auren."

Alessandre's eyes softened. "How did you know that? I have been blocking all thoughts of her…"

Emily ignored his question and continued. "Your people have telepathic tendencies. What can you tell from me?"

"Your concern and frustration overpowers all other outlets of energy," Alessandre informed Emily.

"I know that. What else can you sense?"

He concentrated for a few seconds before his eyes flicked back to Emily's. "A presence. It is a light of blue and green. But I cannot sense anything beyond that."

"His name is Riley, and he's somewhere on this planet with my parents. I need to get back to them. If I help you, will you help me?"

"By helping me, you mean marrying me, right?"

"No. But I will help you marry the person you love."

"Emily, I cannot do that!"

"Yes, you can. And don't tell me that you can't, because that will just make me want to prove to you that you can do it even more."

Alessandre stared at Emily before she made a move to whisper something into his ear. He nodded curtly and then dismissed the courtiers that were in the chamber with them before he called forth another courtier, or someone who Emily believed to be a courtier. Alessandre murmured some words into this particular man's ear before returning to Emily as the man left the room.

"Who was he?"

"He knows Auren."

"Okay. Will he bring her to us?"

"I requested that he do so."

"Good."


	69. Days of Atonement: Part 24

Part Twenty-Four

Auren was a blonde woman who was about Emily's height and make. She and Emily, if they had the same hair color, could be easily mistaken for the other, which Emily found suitable. "Okay, I'm going to change her hair color."

"Change her hair color?" Alessandre asked as he watched Emily examine Auren.

"Yes. I've got a setting on the sonic screwdriver that does that. Dad knows me well. Though, I've never actually used it for something like this. So, if your hair turns pink, I apologize."

Auren looked petrified, but nodded. "Now," Emily stated as she went about changing Auren's hair color, "we've got to make this as flawless as possible. Auren, I'm also going to need to do something about your eyes."

Emily made a quick move to look at Auren's eyes and nodded. "Not too much that needs to be done. Just a quick sonic and she'll have blue eyes. Lucky for you you've got grey eyes. Makes my job a lot easier," Emily chirped.

Five minutes later, Alessandre was looking at two redheads with blue eyes; one which who was the love of his life, the other was the predetermined wife he was supposed to be taking at sunset. "Auren, you look lovely," he remarked.

Auren blushed, but said nothing. Before anything more could be said, Emily started twisting Auren's hair into the same hairstyle that the women had done of her own hair that morning. She found that it was a lot quicker doing this with Auren's hair than it had been with her hair, but she figured that was just because Auren's hair wasn't as curly as her own, thus easier to manage. Once the hair was done, Emily went about trying to get the makeup done on Auren so there was no question as to who the bride was. When she was done with that, Emily stood up straight, stretching as she extended her arms over her head, and looked to Alessandre. "We'll need you to leave the room for a moment or so."

"Why?"

"We've got to do a costume change," Emily replied as she shooed Alessandre out of the room.

The Doctor, Riley, and Donna all made their way down the stairs into a large blue cathedral-like place where Emily had passed through an hour or so earlier. "My gawd," Donna breathed as she looked around the cavernous hall. "I remember something like this."

"The one you would remember was destroyed in the attacks," the Doctor explained quietly. "But I presume they're all pretty much similar to this."

"Where is Emily?" Riley asked, craning his neck to look around the room.

He'd forgotten his glasses on the TARDIS, so he was squinting, but couldn't see much. He could see color and he could see directly in front of him, but beyond that, it was hopeless. Donna turned back to him and grabbed his arm when she could see that he was about to get lost. "We'll find her, I promise," she assured him.

When they found seats in one of the many terraced levels of pews, they could see Alessandre standing in the center of the hall. Riley would later recall the place as being like the Coliseum; no matter how you turned, those in the center were always on display.

"Why do I get the feeling that Emily is connected to that poor boy?" Donna asked the Doctor quietly.

"He looks terrified… he must have already met Emmy," the Doctor remarked with a quiet chuckle.

Music suddenly rang out from the center of the hall, lofting up into the highest points of the hall and then reverberating among the spectators. It sounded somewhat like what the Wedding March would sound like if it were on an alien planet, but with much more gusto and reverence. When a redheaded woman stepped out into the middle, the entire room cheered with excitement and religious fervor. Riley's face drained of all color as he turned to look at the Doctor and Donna. "This is a wedding," he remarked. "I can't believe we've lost her."

"Lost who?" a voice asked quietly.

A cloaked figure sat down to the trio, capping the end of the pew. The figure turned toward them and lifted their hood slightly. Emily winked as she turned to face the front again. Riley let out a squeak, but Emily gestured for him to be silent. "There's still a chance that this won't work," she said in a very low voice.

The ceremony went on for another few minutes. They watched the young lovers succumb to the effects of the Halapay tea, succumb to the slicing and joining of their palms, and heard the chants of an ancient tradition that had joined everyone on the planet except for Emily or Riley. If that weren't enough to overwhelm, Emily was at risk for being noticed until Alessandre and Auren were completely joined by the blood-joining and recognition agents of the Halapay tea. At that time, there was nothing more that could be done about Emily and Alessandre not being married; he and Auren would already be joined in marriage and mating.

When the ceremony ended, long after it had grown dark, Emily, Riley, Donna, and the Doctor all slipped away before the masses left the hall. They reached the TARDIS and found that Martha and Jack had spent the day exploring the entire TARDIS, top to bottom. They were relieved to see all four of them intact, but had questions. As they soon realized, everyone had questions.

"But before we start asking and answering questions, first things first," the Doctor remarked. "Let's get the hell off this planet, okay?"

There were no objections.


	70. Days of Atonement: Part 25

Part Twenty-Five

The TARDIS materialized on the street corner near Riley's house, only five minutes after he and Emily had left. "You're home," Emily remarked as soon as the TARDIS stopped rocking and making noises.

"Really?" he asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Yup. Take a look," Emily told him, gesturing to the door.

He picked up his knapsack and started for the doors. When he peered outside, he found that it was, in fact, his house. He could even see his open window still. When he checked his watch, he was surprised to find that it had reset itself so that it read that it was midnight. "Well," he said quietly. "I guess this is it."

Emily laughed. "Oh, don't make it sound like I'm going to disappear forever," she remarked. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

His eyes widened. "Oh… right. School. Doesn't seem too important anymore. I mean, after what I've seen…"

"It's all relative," Emily assured him. "Every thing is important in its own way."

"But how do I just go on like none of that happened?" he asked, closing the door.

"Just take it one step at a time," Martha offered.

"Keep running," Jack suggested.

"Don't," Donna suddenly said.

They all turned to look at her. "Sorry?" Riley remarked.

"Don't just go on like none of it happened. What happened did happen, and if you spend all your time pretending that it didn't, what does that give you? What does that make you? I've been in a place where everything that happened to me was wiped from my consciousness, and it makes me sick to think that I have missed so much because I didn't have that there. Yes, I understand that I would have died if I hadn't have had those memories taken away, but if you disregard what happened as being silly or insane, you lose the thrill, the euphoria, the magic of it all."

Martha, Jack, and Emily all glanced over at the Doctor, who wore a solemn look upon his face. Riley glanced between Donna and Emily before blinking a few times. "I'm not sure how to do this, Emmy."

She glanced over at him. "I'll walk you to your house," she told him as she walked toward him to lead him home.

When the two teenagers were out of the TARDIS, a palpable tension arose. "Donna," the Doctor finally said.

"Look… it's been a long day. Maybe we just call it a night?" she suggested.

Martha and Jack made noises of agreement. "Yeah… it's been a very long day. I should be getting home to the kids," Martha said.

"And I've got a lot to do at Torchwood," Jack added.

"Well, when Emmy gets back, we'll be off," the Doctor concluded.

Emily returned after a five-minute discussion with Riley about the merits of time travel and what it meant for him, leaving their conversation with a promise to help him through the recovery process of having his entire concept of reality torn to shreds when it wasn't midnight and she wasn't exhausted.

"I think I've just destroyed him," she announced sadly as she walked back onto the TARDIS.

She walked to the jump seat and sat with her head in her hands. Donna walked over to Emily and sat down next to her. "How do you mean?"

"He's just had everything he's ever known to be factual ripped away from him. He lacks true understanding now. And of course, since he's anal-retentive about these matters, he's gone into shock. He's convinced that they're going to revoke his admission to Yale because he's just a bumbling idiot now. I've broke him. I broke Riley. Do you know how bad that is?" Emily squeaked.

"And we're off," the Doctor suddenly said as he started flipping levers and pushing buttons.

"Doctor," Donna hissed. "Do you not see that Emily is upset?"

He sighed and leaned around the console to look at Emily. "Emmy… welcome to your inheritance. Those who travel in the TARDIS and then go back to their normal lives hardly find those lives satisfying anymore. Riley's young, he's smart, he'll learn how to cope. And like you said, you're not going to disappear forever."

"That's your idea of a pep-talk?" Donna asked incredulously. "That's rubbish!"

"Well… you've been there, tell her," the Doctor replied.

"But you're her father… you're able to relate better to her than I am."

"But you've been in Riley's position."

"Hardly."

"How do you figure?"

"It's in no way the same!"

"It's exactly the same," the Doctor replied. "Time traveler on the TARDIS goes home to family and finds it somewhat dull, unfulfilling, and dry."

Donna crossed her arms. "You have two other people on board who may beg to differ."

Martha shook her head. "I went to Torchwood, and found that while yes, it was rather different than being on the TARDIS, my life was hardly unfulfilling."

Jack nodded in agreement. "Torchwood was my outlet."

"See?" the Doctor asked.

Donna turned and walked out of the console room. Emily glared at her father. "Thanks," she sniffed before she walked in the opposite direction as Donna.


	71. Days of Atonement: Part 26

Part Twenty-Six

After taking Martha home and Jack back to Torchwood, the Doctor turned to the console, alone in his realm. He decided it was time that they set things straight. He plugged in the coordinates for Sylvia's house and when the TARDIS materialized, Sylvia was standing at the front door. "I heard you coming," she remarked as she rushed to the police box.

"Donna's inside."

"What?"

"She's in there. She's fine. She's been fixed."

Sylvia's eyes widened as she realized what the Doctor was saying. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Go on in," he urged her.

Sylvia didn't get too far before Donna came out of the TARDIS, holding her sweater and wearing a look of surprise. "Mum?"

"Oh my god!" Sylvia cried out as she hugged her daughter. "So you know about Emily?"

"Yes… wait… how did you know about Emily?"

"The photos, remember?"

"You knew that she was my daughter? And you didn't tell me?"

"Donna, don't be like that. You know that it would have been impossible for us to tell you something like that, without your head burning up and everything!"

"But you knew!"

"Yes. Your grandfather and I have been in her life since she was three."

Emily, as if on cue, peeked out of the TARDIS and grinned when she saw Sylvia. "Grandma? What are you doing here?"

"The question is: why are you here," Sylvia replied as she moved to hug Emily. "How are you?"

"Well… considering…" Emily shot a look back at her parents and laughed.

"Right, of course. You should all come inside… this is ridiculous, all this standing around outside," Sylvia said as she ushered everyone into the house.

A few hours later, Donna and Sylvia were sitting in the kitchen, finishing up their tea. Emily and the Doctor had gone to bed an hour or so earlier, so it was just mother and daughter left in the kitchen. Donna watched her mother with interest. "I still cannot believe that you met her before I did," she finally said quietly.

"You met her when I did," Sylvia informed Donna.

"When?" Donna replied in shock. "The first time I met her was earlier this year."

"Three days after you and Shaun brought Marissa home from the hospital. You might have been so exhausted that you didn't realize, but there was a little redheaded girl who told me off. There was a woman with very curly hair… Charlotte Collins… but you weren't there."

Donna's mouth dropped slightly. "That little redheaded girl… the tiny little girl with the man… oh my gawd… I remember that day! And he looks the same! Oh, how could I have missed that?" she exclaimed.

Sylvia shrugged. "She was exactly like you when you were little: outspoken and precocious. We didn't know that she was yours until a few months later, when we found out that Charlotte's real name was River Song. River was a lovely woman… it was a shame when we found out that she died."

"You met River?" Donna asked, suddenly realizing that maybe the Doctor had actually taken her advice and had asked River to be a part of their lives.

"Oh yes… plenty of times. She was quite good at keeping both of them in line. Though, when we found that Emily was our granddaughter, River was about to have a baby. She lost the baby, given what we later learned. It truly was one of the most devastating things that happened to River and the Doctor… River really wanted that baby, and then she lost it. The baby was stillborn."

"River and the Doctor had a baby?" Donna asked in interest.

"I suppose. Never got married though."

"You don't need to be married to have children. Oh, I will have to ask him all about that," Donna remarked with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Sylvia, picking up on this jealousy, then added: "River always said that he missed you and spoke of you often. She said that all plans went back to you. So, even if she had a child with him, I doubt it was anything more than a friend helping another friend out."

"I can't believe he actually did what I asked him to do," Donna murmured.

"What's that?"

"I asked him to find River and to have her help him with Emily… I always suspected that that was how his future was supposed to unfold, with River playing a very important role in his life… and if he trusted her completely, well, of course she'd be the one helping him with Emily. He'd have to trust her completely with matters pertaining to Emily. I wonder if he still has the journal…"

"What are you talking about?" Sylvia asked in disbelief.

"Before Emily was born, I asked… well, rather, I told the Doctor to reach out to River to have her help him. And when I told him to do this, he seemed to resist the idea of doing that. But I guess I was wrong. Which I'm glad about."

"Donna, the Doctor is all the surprises in the universe packaged into one absurd man. And thank goodness for that. He's been a wonderful father, and Emily's done so well with him. But, if he ever asks, I'm still angry with him."

"I take that to mean that you're not angry with him?"

"No… of course not. Emily's brilliant… she's gotten into Yale and has managed to still be the best granddaughter I could have hoped for."

"And what about Marissa?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Marissa is a lovely young woman, but she's nothing like you. Whenever I see Emily, I can see you, and I can see life in Emily. She's got goals and knows how to get those goals accomplished."

"Marissa has goals…"

"I don't doubt it, but she's never really opened up to me like Emily has. And I don't know why that is."

"You're not exactly the easiest person to get along with," Donna sniffed. "I don't blame her for not wanting to open up to you and tell you all her hopes and dreams."

"I love all of my grandchildren… don't forget that."

"But Emily is your favorite."

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it."

"I love all of my grandchildren and I have different relationships with each of them. I just happen to have a closer relationship to Emily than I do with Caleb or Marissa."

Donna said nothing more and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"I'm perpetually exhausted Mum. I'm going to bed," she informed her mother.

"Oh, you're not upset with me, are you?"

"You just told me that you don't like my children!"

"I did not say that."

"Well, that's what it seems like!"

"Donna, it's a different situation with Emily. You know that!" Sylvia replied furiously.

"I do know that… and I wish it weren't a different situation with Emily. But it is, and I now have to deal with the aftermath of all of this nonsense!"

"I know. I'm sorry that everything's happened like this, but now look at what you've been given! Your marriage is over with Shaun and you're able to be with the Doctor again. You're able to be with both families now."

"Not really. I doubt the Doctor would let Caleb or Marissa come with us on the TARDIS."

"I don't know. He might."

"Yes, because that would be what I would do if I were him: let my wife's other children from another marriage come with us on a journey through space and time."

"They'd be his stepchildren, right?"

"Well, for all intents and purposes, yes. But it's weird!"

"Just talk to him about it. You might find that all your fretting is silly."

"Good night Mum."

"Good night Donna."

The following morning, the Doctor appeared in the kitchen a few minutes late with a huge grin plastered on his face. "Why are you so chipper?" Emily asked her father.

"We're going on holiday!"

"In the middle of the week?" Sylvia asked.

"Time travel?"

"Right."

"You know… you must have been paying attention to my schedule again, because of finals at school, we have the remainder of the week off. Where are we going?" Emily asked.

"The Scottish Highlands. I figured that it'd be a good place to go."

"Have you been talking with Riley again?" Emily asked her father with a laugh.

"Actually, yes."

"Oh you're kidding."

"Nope. We're due to pick him up in twenty minutes. So, eat up!"

Donna shot a glance over at Emily and Emily rolled her eyes. "This should be interesting," she muttered to Donna.

Donna nodded and left the room to make a phone call to Shaun, checking up on the kids and solidifying the plans for the kids' two weeks with her, which would start the following Wednesday. She knew this was the responsible thing to do before she went legging it off with the Doctor across the universe.

Lo and behold, they were at Riley's house within twenty minutes as promised. When they materialized in the Highlands, Riley was nearly bouncing out of his skin… he was shaking like a little Chihuahua. Emily only laughed and walked down the ramp to the doors of the TARDIS. When she opened the doors, she was impressed. It was a beautiful lake that they found themselves on. "One of the many lochs of Scotland," the Doctor explained as they stepped outside. "A nice place to camp out."


	72. Days of Atonement: Part 27

Part Twenty-Seven

After a few days in the Highlands, doing virtually nothing (according to the Doctor), it was almost time to go home. They had spent their time there talking together, sharing the past with Donna and making plans for the future. Emily and Riley had had a lengthy conversation about the state of their relationship and had come to the conclusion that they would try out being boyfriend and girlfriend. As for the Doctor and Donna, things hadn't come to such clear conclusions.

When she had asked the Doctor about River, he had given very curt, very short, very vague answers that only exacerbated the strange emotions of jealousy that Donna was feeling. "Well, whose baby was it then?" Donna asked him accusingly, even though she hadn't meant to.

"Some bloke's kid. I don't know Donna… it was a long time ago."

"And you've just conveniently forgotten about it?"

He had turned to her abruptly and had started talking in a hushed tone. "She lost her son. And I'm pretty sure that was her last chance at having even the slightest shell of a life. I understand your concerns, but given the current situation, we have time to figure all this out. We don't need to drag out all the skeletons just yet, okay?"

"She had a little boy?" Donna asked quietly, finally starting to see the human component of her fears.

"Yes. It was not a good time in our lives," the Doctor replied stiffly as he turned away from her.

"So you and River never…"

"No."

"And you never felt that way…"

"No. She felt that way for me, but I never did. And I feel guilty for it."

"Why?"

"Because love and passion and affection and adoration for someone is already hard enough to handle when the other person reciprocates those feelings. When the other person doesn't reciprocate those emotions, it's devastating. That is why I'm convinced that River went to the Library and lived her life the way she did… a way of acting out all the frustration and anger towards the situation."

"I don't think it was your fault that she went off and did that."

"Well, I still haven't figured out why she left. I had sixteen years to change the timelines, and I just didn't."

"But you told her that you wouldn't."

"Donna…"

"I know that you wouldn't ever break a promise."

"Oh, if you only knew."

"I know you, and I know that you don't break promises that easily."

"Ask Amy Pond if I break promises."

"Who is Amy Pond?"

"Companion after you. She and Rory, her husband, travelled with me for almost two years."

"You had a married duo?"

"Yes."

"Gawd… how much haven't you told me?"

"A lot happened in almost eighteen years."

"Yeah… this is too much for me to handle right now," Donna replied.

Which is why Donna had taken the afternoon to be by herself. She felt that it was a necessary action she took before she lost her mind with all the indecisive conclusions that she and the Doctor were coming to. She sat out on the edge of the dock, the lamps flickering as the light bulbs burnt out. The Doctor walked the length of the dock until he reached her. He was silent as he sat down next to her, letting his long legs hang over the edge, suspended in the warm air. "Are you okay?" he asked Donna.

She nodded slightly before looking out at the lake that spanned out in front of them. The moon and stars reflected their milky white light up at the scenery around them, washing them in the eerie white light that brought beauty and serenity in the night. "Donna?"

"I'm fine, I promise," she murmured.

He said no more, and looked out at the water in front of them. These were the moments that defined a life. Sitting next to one of the best friends any fool could ask for, a friend who could turn a bumbling idiot into a man, 900 years too late, was better than any planet light-years from this place. He only wished that he could replace all that he took from her, trying to save her.

"Emily is brilliant," he told Donna quietly.

"You don't think I know that?" Donna laughed in a low tone. "She's my daughter, after all. You had better believe that the girl is bloody brilliant."

The Doctor laughed and reached out for Donna's hand. He shivered when he found that she didn't hide her hand, but rather, slipped her fingers into his own. He'd much rather have her hands occupied with his than slapping him.

Up the dock some way, a tinkle of laughter and clamor of the wooden slats reverberated through the night. Donna turned around slightly to see who was coming, and nudged the Doctor to look. Emily and Riley were running down to the beach, trying to slip away from the rest of the people who would judge or thwart their plans.

Donna felt a squeeze on her hand, the Doctor's hand tensing at the sight of this. "Leave her be," she murmured into his ear. "She'll be fine."

"How can you say that? She's gone off to…"

"Leave her be. She's nearly an adult now. Hard to believe…"

"Donna, she's still a little girl."

"That boy had better be glad you don't believe in guns," Donna laughed as she moved her hand to wrap her arm around the Doctor's shoulder.

He sighed and relaxed in Donna's embrace. "She'll be fine," he murmured in agreement. "Just have to let her spread her wings a little."

"Exactly."

They were silent for a few minutes, watching the water dance under the refracted moonlight. The sound of the water under the dock spoke for them. "What will you do now?" the Doctor asked Donna.

"I have no idea. I probably should go home to the kids. I should go back to being Domesticated Donna. Marissa and Caleb are my prime focus, but I don't know…"

"Why don't you know?" he asked her.

"They just don't feel like mine anymore. Never really were mine to begin with- I know how terrible that sounds, but they're not mine biologically. We had a surrogate and an egg donor. I couldn't have children myself. Never could get pregnant."

He made some noise in understanding, possibly in agreement. "What?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry."

Donna was silent for a few moments until the Doctor heard her starting to cry. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" she murmured.

"Donna," he replied.

"Honestly, nothing is wrong, that's the point. I'm not sweeping all of this under a rug. There is nothing wrong with this. It just seems like the decision was made for me already."

"What decision?"

"I can't go back to the life I don't want to lead."

"You have children to care for."

"I have a child with you," she pointed out.

"Emily is an almost adult now."

"But to a Time Lord 18 is practically two days old."

"More like a week old, but same point," the Doctor joked. "But you have children with Shaun. They need a mother."

"I kicked him out. We're divorced now."

"Donna, you have responsibilities here on Earth. Two innocent children need their mother."

"You are not seriously telling me that I can't come with you."

"Donna, it's not that, it's… it's… well, yes, it is me telling you that you can't come with me."

She began to sob harder, and she stood up abruptly. The Doctor turned around to see what she was doing, and as he did so, she pushed him off the dock and into the water. "You bumbling idiot! What is wrong with you? You keep killing me with this, you and your myopic view of the world. Dammit, Doctor! Why can't I just have this?" she bellowed as he resurfaced.

He spluttered as he tried to keep above water. It had been several decades since he had last had a chance to swim, so he had to relearn the process. He could only make out a few words between the sound of the water he was splashing and her yelling. He knew that the sonic screwdriver was definitely going to need repairing. It would be his seventh sonic screwdriver for this regeneration: a new record.

"Donna!" Emily yelled.

The Doctor heard pounding on the dock above him as he tried to get to a place where he could pull himself up and get back on. Someone was running above him. "Dad?" Emily called down to him. "Where are you?"

He waved the sonic screwdriver, which hadn't shorted out yet, as a beacon for Emily. She ran down to him and muttered something to Donna before helping him. "What did you do?" she hissed in his ear as she helped him out of the water and onto the dock.

"How did you get here so fast?" he asked her, turning the questions back onto her.

"I was on my way down to talk to Donna, and I saw what happened. Don't deflect my questions though."

Donna stood up and walked over to them. "I would like… I would like to go home now," she informed them quietly.

Emily stood up and nodded to Donna as she watched her father get up slowly. He stood up to his full height and started walking, his shoes squelching with water and leaving a trail of water behind him. Emily started to laugh at the sight, and Donna soon followed suit. Realizing how truly ridiculous this was, even the Doctor started to laugh.

They reached the TARDIS, the Doctor still sopping wet, Donna's tears nearly dry, Riley almost asleep, and Emily astounded at the fact that these two remarkably odd creatures were her parents. There was the looming inevitability that this was the end of a beautiful week of being a family for the first, and quite possibly, the last time. The group was silent for the duration of the trip back to Donna's home, none of them knowing what to say, if they could even say anything if they knew what they wanted to say.

Emily didn't need to know what her father had told Donna, she knew by the way that Donna refused to look at him, refused to talk, and refused to do anything if it meant that she needed to interact with the Doctor. Emily saw this in herself, with all the times that she had hated her father for some of the things that he had done with their lives. All those times she had tried to run away from what she was suddenly became regrettable now that she saw how Donna so deeply desired this life they led and how it pained her to be told that she could not have the one thing that she wanted with her entire life.

It wasn't a silly little request, to travel on the TARDIS, for Donna. To Donna, her request signified asking for life. She had become addicted to this life, this life that gave her meaning, and she needed a fix. The Doctor understood this, and as much as he wanted to give this to her, he also understood that there were others that relied on Donna to be there, and not in a completely different galaxy.

He never meant to hurt her. It was never his aim to take away joy and happiness from anyone, and he never intended to completely forget Donna. Just, at this time, it was not possible for Donna to leave her life. She was needed by people other than him who were more important to her than he was.


	73. Days of Atonement: Part 28

Part Twenty-Eight

The house on the quiet street lined with trees was waiting for them when they returned. The TARDIS came to rest on the corner of the street, about two houses away from Donna's home. "Donna," the Doctor said quietly as Emily took this as her cue to leave the console room.

"Please… don't make me go," she pleaded half heartedly as her last appeal.

"How old is your youngest child?"

"I'm sorry?" she asked him in confusion.

"How old is your youngest child?"

"He's eleven," she answered. "Why does that matter?"

"Seven years. Seven years, Donna Noble. You only have to wait seven years until you can leave."

She looked at him as if he were speaking Gallifreyan. "You aren't kidding, are you?" she finally realized. "You're not leaving me here forever."

"Hardly. Emily's got university to attend to, so I'll be sticking around for a little while, just to make sure she's settling in properly. I'll probably go about the universe, making a ruckus whenever I can, and I'll skip forward about seven years and we'll travel."

"You promise?" she asked in a small voice that the Doctor had never heard before.

"Donna… you know I'd never break a promise like that."

She smiled. It was a bittersweet smile that she wore, one that was sad about waiting seven years, but over the moon about the years beyond that. Forever was almost hers.

She walked out of the TARDIS, followed closely by the Doctor. They stood out on the street, looking at the early evening light. "Ah, I never get tired of this time of day," the Doctor sighed.

Donna looked around a bit and shuffled her feet. "At least this time, I'm coherent enough to say goodbye properly," she remarked.

Emily walked up the street towards them, holding a bag full of groceries. "How were you able to get all of that?" the Doctor asked.

She held up a wallet. "I have a job," she informed him warily.

"No… I mean, how were you able to get all of that in the amount of time that we were talking?"

"You were talking for twenty minutes…I came back, twice, and you were still talking."

"Really?" Donna and the Doctor asked in unison.

Emily nodded as she set the bag down just inside the TARDIS. She closed the door and stood facing her parents. "Don't look so sad, Donna. We'll be around, and Dad here is going to be chasing me in his blue box. It won't be like we're eons away."

Donna looked at the Doctor, who had chucked at his daughter's interpretation of his actions. She certainly had him down to an art. She also was exactly like Donna in the sense that she knew what to say to make sure that there were was the least amount of tears possible. Her hearts were always in the right place.

Donna sighed and then went to hug Emily, who was already going for Donna with a hug. "You be good to him. He's got a lot to deal with. And you keep him in line too."

"That's like telling me to breathe," Emily laughed. "Well, the keeping him in line thing… the other bit is up for debate."

"Gawd, she is my kid," Donna laughed to the Doctor, who smiled weakly.

He was mostly thinking of the future. He knew in seven years' time, at least given what he was told before Emily was born, Donna would be gone without a trace, Emily would be married to Jack, and he'd be a grandfather again. It was funny how time showed him things that he wasn't necessarily expecting to find. If he hadn't found Donna in seven years' time, Emily wouldn't exist. He wondered if he'd have to go find Donna again, thus starting Emily's life over again in a never-ending cycle.

"Doctor?" Donna asked as she nudged his arm

"Hum?" he hummed as he turned towards her.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"All of it."

"All of what?"

"Everything. All of what you've shown me, all of what you've done… all of it."

"Oh. You're welcome."

"Seven years, Spaceman… I'm serious. You had better be here in seven years, ready to go, because I've got a list going of all the places I want to see. We are going to squeeze every last drop out of the universe."

"Sounds juicy. Hum… orange juice sounds good, doesn't it?" he asked, completely off topic.

"Dad…" Emily sighed as she put her face into her hand.

Donna laughed and patted Emily on the shoulder. "Keep him young for me, okay?" she told Emily.

"I think he can do that just fine on his own," Emily replied brightly.

She hugged Donna once more before she pulled out a ringing mobile phone and flipped it open to talk. "I'll see you soon," she told Donna before taking the phone call.

She waved goodbye to her father and to her mother before walking down the street towards whatever adventure laid in store for her. It was just the two parents now. The Doctor, in his still-drenched suit, soggy bowtie and his destroyed shoes, stood watching Donna and waiting for her to speak. Donna, in her jeans and blue blouse, tried not to scheme ways to get the Doctor to take her with him. "So, is this it?" she asked finally, biting her cheek to keep the tears at bay.

"You make it sound like I'm going to die," the Doctor laughed.

"Life is a strange fellow," Donna replied sagely.

"I'm living proof," he smiled. "No… Emily's living proof."

She smiled absently, wondering when they would just rip the Band-Aid off and move on with their lives. "This shouldn't be this hard," she finally whispered.

"No, it shouldn't."

"Why is it then?"

"I think it's this hard because we both know that you should be running back to be on the TARDIS, and not standing out here, in front of your house. It's hard because we need to address the responsibilities we have right here and right now before going off to forever. But, Donna Noble, I will be back and we will have brilliant times again, traveling the universe."

"I'll go back to my extraordinary life too," she sighed sadly. "Not the homemaker life."

"There's a lot to be said about that life," he pointed out.

"True, but it doesn't mean that that life brings about much fulfillment."

"Seven years. Just remember that, Donna."

"Seven years. That's ages away."

"Hardly," the Doctor laughed.

"To you, it's a heartbeat. To me, it's seven years."

"Donna, like Emily already said, we're not straying far from Earth. She'll be here pretty consistently and I'll be doing sporadic travels."

"You're still eons away from me if you're in the TARDIS and I'm here. You know that."

"Emily is going to be in America, not on Messaline. Isn't that good?"

"It's a start," Donna sniffed. "Okay, let's just get this over with. This looks weird."

"What? An Martian wearing sopping wet clothes and shoes standing near a blue police box with a redheaded woman about to lose her mind isn't normal?" he grinned.

"Oh, shush. Doctor, I expect to see you at least once a week, just to check in. I need to know that you haven't gone running off again, legging it to the other side of the universe."

"Nah… Emily would find a way to get me back here. She doesn't like being here by herself for too long, so she'll know if I've gone missing and she'd get me back. Funny thing with the TARDIS… Emily has somehow figured out how to rewire the mainframe to work to her every whim."

"But wait… how did you know about Emmy getting into Yale?"

The Doctor laughed. "Riley isn't exactly what you would call subtle. He took every chance he could to inform me that she got into the university and that she should go too. Apparently she told him the day we went to the Highlands and he hasn't shut up since."

Donna chuckled. "I think she's got a good one," she said. "And Spaceman… you're bonkers."

"Eh, that's what they all tell me," he said as he wrapped Donna in a hug after kissing her on the forehead. "Stay magnificent."

"I always do," she mumbled into his neck.

Before they parted, the Doctor jerked quickly and then stuffed his hand into his pocket. "One last thing before you go— River's journal."

He pulled the book out of his pocket and placed it into Donna's hands. "She wrote in this thing religiously. It should have most of what happened in the last almost-eighteen years for you, and I can clarify things as you go. But I wanted you to have this."

Donna smiled. "I look forward to getting to look at all the spoilers," she said, mocking him when she said the word "spoilers".

"I look forward to hearing your perspective on things."

And with that, one last kiss was planted on his cheek and Donna headed into her new home, leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS behind.

In reality, seven years wasn't really that long if all you ever wanted would be with you every step of the way.


	74. Days of Atonement: Part 29

Part Twenty-Nine

Donna stood out on the overlook that looked out onto the North Sea. The Doctor had instructed her to come to this place, this day, this time, to ready herself for the forever he had promised her. Like their second encounter, she had luggage at the ready, topped off with the same blue and white striped hat box.

The last seven years had been better than Donna had expected. She had been expecting that the Doctor would go off, staying away from Earth most of the time, and then come back for her. But instead, he had stuck around, taking her on trips when Marissa and Caleb were with Shaun. Though, Marissa and Caleb were always welcome on the TARDIS. In fact, he'd taken all three of them to the Tallane Canyons to see the giant dragonflies as he had done with River and Emily before River died.

Donna's fears had been silly… her Spaceman had never left her. And with that, the seven years flew by.

When he arrived, he wore a grin on his face. "Donna Noble, welcome back to the TARDIS. Even though it's been only two days since you've last been here…"

"Spaceman, let's go," Donna remarked as she threw her coat over the railing and carried the rest of her luggage to the living area of the TARDIS.

The Doctor skipped ahead to block her way. "Actually, I have something to show you."

"Oh?" she replied with a smile. "How is that now?"

He grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway to the very end of what seemed to be a ten minute walk. "Where are we?" Donna asked the Doctor when it seemed that they still hadn't reached their destination.

"We are almost there," he promised her.

"Where is there?"

"Here," he said as he turned the handle to a thick oak door. "The TARDIS has had this for us for nearly twenty-five years now."

Donna gasped as she caught a glimpse of the room. It was a bright room, light green with dark brown wood accents. The bed was a plush looking bed with soft blankets the same color as the walls. There were pillows stacked up against the headboard, looking nice and fluffy. The room was surprisingly warm and looked lived-in. "Is this… our room?" Donna asked the Doctor.

He nodded. "She hadn't let me into this room until two days ago, when she forced me to come into here. It was an interesting experience to say the least."

Donna wasn't listening to him as she explored their bedroom. "You know what this reminds me of?" Donna asked.

"The bedroom on Appares Acwin?" the Doctor offered.

"Oh good, you see it too."

"Yup. We spent a remarkable amount of time in that room."

Donna laughed. "Not quite the best of times, was it?"

"I would have much rather gone through that experience the traditional way…" he admitted.

"The traditional way?" Donna echoed. "Yeah, Spaceman… don't be thinking you're going to be getting any of that nonsense."

"What's wrong with wanting to be traditional about things?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Nine months is considerably longer than nine days."

"I know… Time Lord, remember?"

Again, Donna rolled her eyes. "It would have been different… doing things normally, but if we had done thing normally, I don't know if I would have liked it that way."

"Well… there are merits to both. For one, nine days does make the process a lot quicker."

"On the other hand, there is less pain involved for the most part."

"Right. How did we get onto this topic?"

"The room," Donna reminded him.

"Oh yes… the room. It's ours."

"I know."

"Good."

The Doctor turned away from Donna abruptly and started walking towards the opposite end of the room. Donna burst out laughing. "It appears that this regeneration hasn't changed you much… you're still quite as daft."

"No… there's more daftness to this regeneration than the previous one."

She couldn't help but agree.

That night, after dinner's dishes had been washed and put away, Donna had made her way to their bedroom and had gotten herself ready. This was the first night they had spent together in nearly twenty-five years, and Donna was nervous._This is ridiculous… we've done far more intimate things together_, she thought to herself.

But this didn't help her nerves much. She was still very anxious about when the Doctor would come to bed. It wasn't like she hadn't planned for this: she'd brought a silk nightgown and matching robe to wear, and had remembered to do all the other things that she had done the night that she and Shaun had gotten married. But this was different. She was hardly a blushing bride; she and the Doctor had had a child together for goodness' sake! She was sixty-four, proud of the fact that she was still just as active as she was almost thirty years earlier, and was probably in the best shape of her adult life. There were very few reasons to be self conscious with the Doctor.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was feeling similarly. He was too old to keep track, but still had the body of someone in their forties. He wasn't sure how things would play out that night, but he had butterflies in his stomach. All things aside, he figured that he would at least shower so he didn't smell weird when he finally got into bed. Showering was probably a good idea.

When the two were finally settled in bed, Donna brought out the journal and flipped to the last few pages. The Doctor was fiddling with the sonic screwdriver, trying to see if he could adjust the lights without having to get out of bed. For whatever reason, all he could do was turn the lights completely off or turn the lights completely on. No dimming of the lights was possible using the screwdriver.

"Doctor," Donna said simply.

"Yes?"

"How did you and River leave things?"

"Sorry?"

"How did you and River leave things?"

"I'm still not sure what you're asking."

"Did you leave things on good terms or on bad terms, or indifferent terms?"

"I suppose we left things on good terms. Why?"

"Her journal."

"Yes, what about it?"

"She wrote that you were in her bed one morning."

"Donna… I thought we'd gone over this before. River and I never had that sort of relationship. It would have been impossible, given what I explained to you about the mating ceremony on Appares Acwin."

Donna was quiet. The Doctor sensed that she wanted to say something but felt that it wasn't the time or the place to do so. "What?" he asked her.

"I didn't say anything."

"But you want to."

She squirmed a little. "Did you ever read the journal?"

"Bits and pieces here and there. I never read through the whole thing," he replied.

"Why didn't you read the whole thing?"

"Because I lived through it… I didn't need a recap."

"But you never lived through River's eyes."

He nodded. "That is true. I never did live the world through River's eyes."

"So what was the real reason why you never read it?"

"It was for you, not me."

"So?"

"I didn't want to come across any nasty gossip about me," he replied with a cheeky grin. "Donna, I just never had any interest. I'm sorry if that confuses you, but it's the truth."

"Well… I ask because there was something really interesting that I came across."

"What's that?"

"Was River seeing someone when she died?"

"What? No… of course not."

"Really?"

"What does it say?"

"Oh, now you're wishing you had read it, aren't you?"

"No."

"Liar."

"What does it say?" the Doctor asked again with a sigh.

"She wrote something that I think was pretty interesting."

"Donna…"

Donna winked at him. "I'm just messing with you…"

"I know. Please get on with it!"

"All right, all right… don't get your knickers in a knot," she muttered as she poured over the words to find the excerpt she was talking about.

When she found what she was looking for, she began to read. "Okay… she wrote:

_This morning, I woke to the Doctor in my bed. Completely clothed, because the man hardly knows how to dress himself, let alone undress. I know that man, but I know him better when he's asleep than I do when he's awake, because at least when he's asleep, I can make sense of all the madness of him and what he does. It's not as easy when he's awake, but I manage._

But this morning, I woke up with the Doctor resting his head on my stomach, almost drooling on my new nightgown, and his arm draped across me, as if I weren't allowed to leave. He's done this before in completely platonic ways, and when I woke up, he was muttering about you. Presumably, I figured he'd done this with you before, and had been so tired upon returning home last night, that he just crashed on the closest thing, which happened to be me.

Before I was able to set aside that thought as a done deal, he started chattering in his sleep about a buzzing. He knows. He absolutely knows. Or, at the very least, he can hear it.

I wonder why he hasn't brought it up, because it's been nearly five hours since we've gotten out of bed. Maybe he doesn't know."

Donna closed the book and looked at the Doctor. "What does buzzing mean?"

The Doctor's eyes were wide and very sad. "Oh River…" he murmured as he shook his head sadly.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her. "What does it mean?" she murmured.

"It might mean that she was pregnant when she died."

Donna felt a lurch in her stomach. "Oh no…" she murmured. "And she never told you?"

"No… she never did. Oh, why didn't I stop her?" he asked rhetorically.

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but she said I unconsciously was referring to the buzzing, which means that I knew, somehow, but did nothing about it."

"But you were asleep."

"I should have played on my instincts more; I knew that there was something going on that morning when she left… I should never doubt them, and I doubted them by not doing everything within my power to… no, that's not right… everything would have changed if I hadn't listened to my instincts. She wouldn't have gone, my last regeneration wouldn't have gotten the psychic paper message, we wouldn't have gone to the Library, we might have gone to some different planet, and things would have gone much differently… and we wouldn't be here, right now, with this life."

"There you go… there's the benefit to it."

"But all this time, I thought only one life had been sacrificed when it had been two. Why on earth did she always have to go off doing things like that?"

"She did what she needed to do. For that, I am forever grateful. Spaceman… she's not completely gone, she lives on in our heads and our hearts."

"I took a lot away from her by plugging myself and my needs into her life."

"Don't you think if she didn't want you around, she would have told you to leave?" Donna asked him.

"Probably."

"No, she would have. No doubt about it."

"You sound like you've known her for years," he remarked in a wistful tone.

"I have read fourteen years' worth of journal entries. I think I know her a little bit."

"True."

He was quiet as he listened to Donna's breathing and was lulled to near-sleep. "I wonder why she never told me though," he said before closing his eyes.

"She probably didn't know how. It seems like she didn't tell you a lot of things."

"Yeah… just like I didn't tell her a lot of things."

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"You must have told her a lot…. Why did she know your name?"

"For Emily."

"What about her?"

"It is how tradition is passed from generation to the next. If, for whatever reason, I never got a chance to tell Emily myself, I gave River instructions for how the name was to be passed along. But, she died before she ever had to tell Emily."

"Can I hear the name?"

He shook his head. "Only one time I can ever tell my name: from Gallifreyan parent to Gallifreyan child."

"Okay," Donna said as she combed her fingers through his hair, feeling a little defeated, but peaceful.

They fell asleep shortly thereafter; their slumber uncompromised by declining health conditions or other obligations. They could just sleep.


	75. Days of Atonement: Part 30

Part Thirty

He had forgotten where he had put the ring when he started to frisk himself to find the box. The box was a beautiful mahogany box, adorned with silver plating in the print of the symbols of Gallifrey. Inside the box, an ornate ring with a stone that was as blue as Donna's eyes rested in a little silk pillow. He knew that Donna would love it when she saw it.

He had met up with Amy, who now had three teenage boys of her own, and had asked for her advice with the ring. "Pond, I don't know if Donna would like this ring."

"Why wouldn't she like the ring? It's gorgeous," Amy said as she examined the ring closely.

"Well… I'm not sure if she'd enjoy the size."

"Doctor, the stone is as large as my thumbnail. She'll enjoy the ring. Plus, it's from you, and it has Gallifreyan on the band… it's a beautiful ring."

He sighed softly. "I don't remember this being so nerve-wracking with Magdelaene. Maggie was much easier than Donna in this respect."

"You care about Donna… and besides… isn't it almost your twenty-fifth anniversary?"

He nodded. "Emily's almost twenty-five… goodness… I think that's the longest period of time in which I've kept a companion. And stayed relatively linear and domestic."

Amy laughed. "Well, I'm sure that this will be a welcome gift. She'll love it… relax."

There was a considerable difference between being told to relax and relaxing when it came to the Doctor. When Amy told him to relax, she probably wouldn't have expected his idea of relaxing be going around the TARDIS and looking for stray wires that he could follow to find the source. It wasn't terribly exciting, nor was it terribly relaxing, but the Doctor found this to be a good distraction from what he was planning on doing.

Later on that evening, Donna arrived back to the TARDIS from the planet where she and Emily had spent the day shopping. "Doctor?" she called out as she walked through the TARDIS.

"In here," he called from the kitchen.

"You're cooking?"

"I can cook."

"The last time you made dinner, it was pudding and chicken fingers. And you managed to burn both."

"Well, this is different. I got distracted with an alien attack the last time I made dinner."

"You don't know how much this concerns me right now," Donna said as she walked into the kitchen and saw the table was made up and found that the Doctor hadn't set something on fire like he was wont to do.

"Well, don't be concerned. I've tasted everything, and I haven't needed a detox yet."

"Yet being the operative word?" Donna laughed.

"Ha-ha," he replied sardonically. "No… it is fine."

"What is it?"

He set a plate in front of her. "This is prosciutto, butternut squash, and ravioli, with a balsamic vinegar sauce. And that's a spinach salad there, and this is a thirty-year-old merlot from the vineyards of Provence."

Donna glanced up at him with a look of intrigue. "I'm not going to find take-out containers later, am I?"

"If you do, they will not be from me," he replied. "Try it."

Donna picked up her fork and took a small bite of food. She chewed it thoughtfully before her expression turned to one of dreaminess. "I'm going to take a phrase out of Riley's lexicon and tell you that you've been holding out on me."

He grinned. "Of course, but that's why you put up with me and my nonsense," he said with a kiss to her forehead.

The Doctor prepared himself a plate of food and sat down. "May I ask what warrants this?" she asked him.

"I need a reason to make you dinner all of a sudden?" he asked her in mock surprise.

"No, but this is rather… much… for you to just make me dinner. Mr. Spontaneous doesn't get this spontaneous."

"Well, I'm trying something different."

She looked at him skeptically, but said nothing. After a quiet next few minutes, she spoke again. "Emmy asked if she and Riley could come by tomorrow. Apparently, he wants to see if he left something here the last time they were onboard."

"Oh good. How was shopping today?"

"It was nice. Emily was looking for a new comforter for her bed at the cottage. One that matches the curtains she found in the attic that River never put up."

"That sounds terribly dull."

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't invite you to come, isn't it?" Donna laughed. "Seriously… what is going on with you making me dinner?"

He grinned but said nothing. "Doctor…"

"I'm not saying."

"So, there is a reason."

"But I'm not saying."

"Oh, you cheek!"

He chuckled. "Soon, Earth Girl. Soon."

"How soon?"

"Finish up with dinner and you'll find out."

"Ooh… dessert surprises?"

"Fish custard."

"You jest."

"Yeah… I made something different for you."

When dessert time came along, the Doctor had the ring sitting on the side of the plate. He figured he didn't want to perform the Heimlich maneuver if Donna swallowed the ring. When she caught sight of the ring, she let out a little squeak. "Doctor…" she breathed.

"Surprise?" he offered lamely.

"But… what is this?"

"An anniversary gift of sorts. Our anniversary was actually yesterday… turns out I've been thinking it's the wrong day for twenty-five years now. For whatever reason, Emily knows what day she was born."

"May 12th."

"Right. So, how difficult should it be to remember that our anniversary is May 1st?"

Donna laughed. "What does the ring signify? Marriage, anniversary… what?"

"Commitment, really. I guess it's a wedding ring," he replied. "No perception filters on this one though."

"Good. You're in it for the long haul, Spaceman."

"That's the plan," he replied as she leaned in for a kiss.

"Ugh… you couldn't have waited to eat your fish custard until after this?" Donna exclaimed through her girlish giggles as she slid the ring onto her finger.


	76. Days of Atonement: Part 31

Part Thirty-One

As promised, Emily and Riley dropped in for a visit so Riley could look for this mysterious object that he had supposedly lost on the TARDIS. What the Doctor failed to mention to anyone was that the TARDIS was usually very good at keeping track of lost objects and storing them in the Lost and Found onboard. Except no one, including the Doctor, knew where the Lost and Found was on the TARDIS, so it was of very little use.

Riley had gone off around the TARDIS in his search for his lost possession while everyone else caught up. Jack and Martha had come by the TARDIS to take a look at some of the new gadgets the Doctor had picked up in their travels and Martha was planning on going out with Donna and Emily once she'd seen the gadgets. Eventually, Donna, Martha, and Emily went out for the afternoon, leaving Riley, Jack, and the Doctor back at the cottage. Riley knew it was now or never, since time was wily and circumstances could change at the drop of a hat.

"Um… Doctor?" he asked as he walked into the workshop where the Doctor and Jack were working on some gadget Riley didn't recognize.

"Yeah?" the Doctor called back.

"Oh… I see you're otherwise occupied. I'll come back later."

"Spit it out; I can multitask," the Doctor assured him. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Actually, I wasn't looking for anything. It was a story I came up with so I'd have an excuse to come by and talk to you without Emmy becoming suspicious." Riley squirmed and wrung his hands around his sweatshirt, like he had as a small child. "Um… well… you see… I'd like to marry Emily."

Dead silence came from both Jack and the Doctor. The Doctor's eyes jerked up to meet Riley's, and Jack waited expectantly. "Um…"

"You want to marry Emily?" the Doctor asked.

Riley nodded. With a gulp, he mustered out some words too. "I really want to marry her."

"But you're not Jack," the Doctor remarked, to which Jack's eyes flashed over to the Doctor in surprise.

"What?" Jack asked in shock. "What does that mean, Doc?"

What the Doctor didn't know was that Jack was otherwise occupied, and hadn't the slightest clue as to what the Doctor was babbling on about. Riley stood there, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, not believing what he was hearing. "Was Jack supposed to marry her?" he asked the Doctor.

"Well, yes, he was."

"I was not aware of this, Doc," Jack replied, holding his hands up in surrender.

"That doesn't make sense though…" the Doctor said as he stood up and buried his face into his hand. "How could have the timelines changed that much?"

Jack shrugged. "Doc… I'm not marrying Emily. It'd be too weird. I mean, me, marrying your daughter? I was there the day she was born!"

The Doctor brought his hand down as he turned his head to look at Jack. "Jack, I've finally become comfortable with the idea that you will be marrying my daughter, and as it turns out, you're not interested? What's wrong with her?"

"I'm right here!" Riley cried.

Ignoring Riley: "There's nothing wrong with Emmy… it's just weird though, to think that I've basically been her godfather, there for every step of the way, and now you're suggesting that I might marry her? I love her, but like as a niece or a grandchild. I'm old enough to be her grandfather, if not her great-grandfather. Not her husband."

"But you're going to live on for ages… who else will live as long as you? Who else will be there to protect her for as long as she lives?" the Doctor asked Jack.

Riley had given up on being heard as soon as Jack started talking about being old enough to be Emily's grandfather. He just had to be chivalrous and appeal to that strange instinct to be traditional and proper and start things out on the right foot with the Doctor. But now, he was regretting even conceiving such an idea.

"She's found someone. You know… the kid who is sitting over there, looking like a kicked puppy?"

Riley glanced up at the Doctor. "I've got a ring and I know how I'm going to ask her. But don't think that if you deny me permission, I'm not going to do it, because I'm still going to ask her. She's my best friend, and I'm ready to move on with my life. Being with her for the last seven years at Yale and traveling around the world and universe has proven to me that I can't do this any other way."

"And you're certain about this. I seem to recall an incident with choosing a pastry at the café last week…"

"Choosing to spend the rest of my life with Emily is not the same thing as choosing between a chocolate chip cookie and a peanut butter cookie."

"Even so."

"It's not the same thing!"

"I don't know…"

"Doc… cut the kid some slack. He's got enough courage and respect to ask first. If you don't say that he can ask Emmy, I'm going to give him permission," Jack interjected.

"You can't do that," the Doctor informed Jack."

"Like hell I can."

"But you aren't her father."

"And you're not being rational. You're leaving Riley hanging like a dead fish: it's going to get smelly at some point."

The Doctor already knew what his decision was going to be, but he remained quiet for a minute or so. But, if Jack wasn't marrying Emily, maybe this meant that the timelines had changed. If this had changed, what else had changed with it? Maybe this meant that Donna didn't go missing, which meant that Emily's life wouldn't be caught up in an endless cycle, and that meant that the Doctor had done something right, which could be good, or had done something wrong, which could also be good, but could be bad too. In essence, he really had no idea what to think about this matter, and he figured it was best to give Riley his answer.

Riley started to panic when the Doctor didn't reply, and Jack was poised to answer. Finally, the Doctor broke out into a huge grin. "Riley Bowen, you're almost as mad as I am, and I'm a madman with a box."

"Well, I guess that makes me a madman with the occasional ability to use a Vortex Manipulator," Riley replied, relieved.

The Doctor pulled his future son-in-law into a hug. "But I have to warn you: she's half Donna, half River, and half me."

"That doesn't even work," Riley tried to protest.

"Of course it does," the Doctor replied. "Think about it."

But no matter how much Riley tried to think about it, he couldn't figure out how it worked. It didn't really matter… he was going to make Emily Collins (because he still didn't know her real last name) his wife. And that was quite enough to figure out.


	77. Days of Atonement: Part 32

Part Thirty-Two

Emily stared at the engagement ring that Riley had presented to her. It was a simple silver band, a nice diamond, and pink sapphires on either side of the diamond. Riley told her that he had gotten it on the planet Zalomar three months previous while Emily had been looking at some exhibit on the planet's history. She hadn't any idea how to tell her father that she was engaged. She didn't even know if her father would have wanted Riley to ask for her hand in marriage either.

She knew one thing though: she wanted to get married at the cottage.

She knew that she wanted to have her mother and father walk her down the aisle; she knew that she wanted all of her friends and his friends at the wedding, and she knew that she wanted to get married at the cottage. She pictured the wedding scene in her mind: lots of color, lots of little details, lots of people, and a lot of happy jubilance to go around. She didn't really know what else she wanted at her wedding, but she figured that could be figured out later.

Riley had proposed after a failed picnic in Hyde Park. It had started to pour, even though he had insisted that the weather was supposed to be clear. "Riley… it's London."

"I know, but the internet said that it was supposed to be decent weather today!"

"It's London." Emily replied with a pat to his knee.

And that was when he did it. He pulled out the ring from his pocket. He'd wrapped it up into a small little wooden box, a nice cherry-wood box with an inscription from a Spanish poem they both loved wrapping itself around the box. "Sorry the weather didn't hold," he said as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"Wait… aren't you forgetting something?" Emily asked him.

"What do you—oh, right… the question."

Emily nodded as she let out a breathy laugh. "Will you marry me?" he asked, grinning like a goon.

"Sponge Boy, it'd be my pleasure," she replied with a wink and a kiss to his lips.

Emily was anxious to tell her mother, who was at Torchwood for the afternoon working on a project that Jack had asked for her help on. After quickly plugging in the coordinates for the Hub, Emily found herself in the front hall of her destination. "Mum?" she called out.

"Up here!" Donna called back.

Emily walked up the stairs into the office area and found Donna, Martha, and Jack huddled around a computer screen. "What's that?" Emily asked.

"Arebequian technology. We've just found the information about the Arebequian culture in River's notes from her archeological digs, and the notes she took are fascinating. Did you ever take a look at them?" Jack asked her.

"Briefly. I only glanced through the books to know how I needed to classify them when I brought them your way," Emily said.

Donna looked at Emily and smiled proudly. "Why are you here?" she asked Emily.

Emily laughed softly and blushed. "Well… hopefully you've got a good hat to wear… Riley proposed," she announced as she brought her hand into the light so they could see the ring.

Donna let out a loud squeal/squawk as she leapt from her seat and grabbed Emily's hand to look at the ring. Martha followed suit and the two older women began to ooh and ahh over the ring. Jack stood back and smiled. "So he finally did it?" Jack remarked when the uproar over the ring died down.

Donna and Martha turned to look at him. "You knew?" Donna asked indignantly.

"Yeah… I was there when he asked for her hand in marriage. Doc sure knows how to put fear into the hearts of men," Jack remarked as he turned back to the computer screen.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?" Donna cried.

"Mum, don't worry about it… if it's of any condolence, I didn't know either," Emily interjected jokingly.

Martha laughed and patted Donna's shoulder before she moved in to hug Emily. "Congratulations!" she remarked warmly.

Later on, Martha and Donna had gone out to pick up food for their celebratory dinner that the Doctor and Riley would join them for, leaving Jack and Emily back at the Hub. "So, how do you feel?" Jack asked her as she finished programming something into the computer.

"Not so different to be quite honest. I always thought that I'd be more excited, but to me, it's almost like it's just another day, just another thing that Riley and I will do with our lives. I guess as it gets closer it will become more and more exciting," she answered.

"Yeah… it's always like that."

"You would know?"

"I've been married."

"Have you?"

"Yes. To women my own age too," he remarked.

"What?"

"Your father was under the impression that I'd be marrying you."

"That's… absurd."

Jack laughed. "Hard to believe that he thought that, right?"

"It's a little gross…" Emily remarked before adding hastily: "Don't take offense to that."

"None taken. It's too incestuous for my liking."

"And for mine."

A lull in conversation came about, leaving Jack to twiddle his thumbs while Emily finished up with her programming. Jack suddenly was overcome with a stroke of genius. "The Doctor said that I am supposed to marry you, per what happened before you were born. That's not going to happen. Ever. But… that doesn't necessarily mean that we have to completely destroy the timelines or your father's perception of the future… I don't have to be the one to actually become your husband in order to marry you…"

"You could officiate the wedding," Emily realized. "Oh, that's brilliant!"

"I know, isn't it?"

"How much did the timelines have to change in order for this to have happened?" Emily wondered aloud.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember much about what was my future when you were born, except I do recall something about a little boy named David."

"River's son?"

"No… I think that was the name we were going to name our son."

"We had a son?"

"Well, you were still pregnant, if I recall correctly."

"Oh," Emily replied, taken aback by that revelation. "That's… unique."

"I'm not that repulsive."

"No, I don't mean it as that… it's just odd to think that that was how things could have turned out."

"You aren't married yet," he joked.

"I think I'm going to stick with Riley. But thank you for your absurd offer," she replied.

Emily didn't think she was going to stick with Riley; she knew she was going to stick with him. She had grown strangely dependent of him, and he of her. She couldn't wait to be his wife, the next frontier of her life.

And so, the planning began.


	78. Days of Atonement: Part 33

Part Thirty-Three

Emily decided that in order to get married, she had to get her family straight. She wanted to meet any and all family members she could before she brought Riley legally into the fold. "Do you think Marissa and Caleb would be interested in coming to the wedding?" she asked Donna one afternoon about a week before the wedding as they were working on party favors.

Donna shrugged. "I don't see any reason why they wouldn't. You want them at the wedding?"

"Well, they are my siblings. It would be nice if they were included in the festivity."

Donna was still surprised by the amount of humanity Emily possessed. She had her moments of darkness, like all humans, but she maintained a very sagacious amount of humanity within her very alien world. In a situation where Emily could disregard Donna's children as just other people in the world, she pinpointed them as being her siblings. Donna didn't know how to react to this gesture.

The Doctor on the other hand, was having quite a difficult time trying to come up with a wedding gift for his daughter. He'd ducked out of having to do wedding favors with Emily and Donna that afternoon because he had claimed that he was still trying to find a gift for Emily. And even though he'd had all day to figure out what his gift would be, he still hadn't figured it out.

So, he went to the cottage and started to look around. He searched every room, looking for some clue as to what his gift would be. He wanted this to be a very special gift, his daughter's wedding (the first wedding he'd been invited to, even though Eleanor had gotten married and had children) was important to him. All the searching he went about was to no avail. He resorted to the workshop and sat down at the table that had a few errant gadgets from one of the last visits from Jack.

One gadget seemed out of place, foreign to the Doctor's knowledge of these gadgets. He examined it and saw Jack's notes on this particular gadget nearby. "A_ppears to pertain to time locks and can revive those saved by data cores and hard drives. This looks to be a very specialized tool from the 61st century, designed by followers of the Winlock Movement from the planet system of Felspoon. Tests have successfully proven that this gadget works with time locks, locking and unlocking, though there have been no tests beyond this. Library use?_"

The Doctor examined the gadget, a slender metal bar with buttons and screens lacing around the bar. It looked like art, not something that could be used for something like Jack detailed. He read through the notes again. The note that indicated possible library use made the Doctor think that it was for books or something. Scanning in books on hard drives or data cores, of course.

He then thought about the Winlock Movement on Felspoon. It had been a movement to restore historical artifacts and knowledge that had been hidden away, stored on disks for safe keeping during the wars on Felspoon. Of course this was what it was for, and this had clearly been well used. For other uses, it was useful to bring forth memories from photographs, such as a special event or important events. It was a handy storage drive data extractor at best.

The Doctor twirled it around his fingers absently, until he caught sight of a very small engraving near the top. "RS," it read.

"River," he murmured. Of course she would have this… she was an archaeologist. Archaeologists needed tools like this.

And then he remembered one very crucial thing about the people of Felspoon. They had hidden away their ruler during the war. Saved him to a hard drive. He had sacrificed himself for the good of his people. They brought him back from a hard drive, and he reigned for another twenty years before he died.

"Donna? Emily?" the Doctor called out as he ran out of the workroom.

Emily and Donna looked up from their work. "What?" Donna asked.

"I'm going out. I'll be back… before I need to be," he said before running out the door.

He plugged in the coordinates and found himself at the Library a few minutes later. He knew that he was breaking the promise he'd made with the Vashta Nerada by coming to this place, but he needed to know if this would work or not. Ten minutes of fiddling around with the device and he finally found the results he was looking for.

A loud crashing noise came from behind him, followed by a softer thud. Sparks began to fly, and the Doctor spun around in avoidance of these sparks and saw River on the ground. He nearly cried out in relief, but saw that she was unconscious. The hairs on the back of his neck started to stand on end as he sensed that the Vashta Nerada knew he was there. And as if that weren't stressful enough, sirens of system failure began to ring out, shattering the silence. He needed to get her to the TARDIS.

Apparently, CAL's system didn't save data for River's clothing, because she was completely nude. By downloading herself, she had successfully saved her memories and the data of her physical self, but didn't successfully save her clothing. Trying to ignore this fact, he picked her up and hurried her to the TARDIS to get out of the Library for the rest of eternity. He carried her to the Med Bay and covered her up with several blankets before returning to the Console Room to fly the TARDIS back to the cottage.

He landed the TARDIS near the cottage, but wanted to stay back until he knew for certain that River was restored properly. He dashed back to the Med Bay to find that she was awake. "Doctor?" she asked, surprisingly, in English.

"River," he said with a smile. "You're quite good."

"Sorry?" she asked, slipping into her habitual Spanish.

The Doctor didn't know how he knew she was speaking a different language. Maybe it was the accenting change or the tone her words took on. Instead of questioning this, he replied: "You've just saved your life."

"Sorry? I'm not sure if I understand you. Why am I naked?"

"CAL's system didn't save your clothing. We'll get you dressed as soon as I can make sure you're physically okay."

"You pulled me from CAL?" River asked him as she sat up, tucking the blankets around her body. "How?"

He pulled a machine around to do scans of River. He plugged in some elements but before scanning her, he smiled at her. "When were you going to tell me the happy news?" he asked her.

"Happy news… oh… you know?" she asked him, remembering details of her life from eleven years prior.

"Donna read your journal."

"Donna… Noble? From the Library?"

"Emmy's mum? Yup, that's the one."

"How… I mean, that means that you… you did it didn't you?" she asked, her voice lilting in excitement.

He nodded with a bright expression on his face. "Seven years ago on Appares Acwin. That planet isn't all bad, I'll have you know."

The Doctor began scanning River, noting that yes, she was in fact pregnant; yes, her heart was in order; yes, her lungs were in good shape; and yes, she was fine. Somehow, this was all happening and it was all possible. There were very few times in the Doctor's existence when he didn't question things, he just took them at face-value. This was one of those times. Maybe later he would question this, but he was overwhelmingly excited to have River back.

"I met Donna… god, Emmy looks just like her," River remarked as the Doctor had her lie back again so he could get a good full-body scan just to double-check his verifications.

"She acts like her too. Okay, let's go get you some clothing."

The Doctor helped River off of the table and helped her gather the blankets around her so she could be somewhat covered. When they reached the wardrobe, River started to snag garments of hers that the TARDIS had snagged while she had briefly lived on the TARDIS while the house was getting repair work done. (The Doctor had blown up half of the house with an experiment he was trying to concoct in the workroom that had gone terribly, terribly awry.)

He had turned around while she dropped the blankets and got dressed right then and there. "You can turn around now," she said as she started to pull on a top, but hadn't managed to find bottoms yet.

He did so hesitantly, and caught the slight swell of what he suspected to be the first visible evidence of her pregnancy. She found bottoms and pulled on a pair of trousers. When she found a pair of shoes that fit, she looked to the Doctor. "So, where are we off to?" she asked him.

He offered her his arm, and she gladly accepted by slipping her arm through his. He walked her up to the Console Room and brought the TARDIS to their permanent landing spot. "River Song, welcome home."

River stepped off of the TARDIS and walked slowly to the house by the sea. There were banners, bolts of vibrant cloth, and lanterns lighting the way. She could hear people laughing and talking happily throughout the large area. "Doctor," she asked as she turned to face him, "what is this?"

"Emmy's wedding is tomorrow."

"What?" River's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yup. This is just the pre-wedding festivity. Oh, and Donna's here too!"

River grinned as he offered her his arm and escorted her into the house where the smell of food and the sound of jubilance wafted around her. "Doctor, Donna is looking for you. She says that she wants to get your speech done with so you can rehearse before tomorrow," Martha said as she ignored River.

River cleared her throat. "Martha, you look fantastic!" River remarked as she went in for a hug.

Martha, looking surprised, kept her arms pinned at her sides as River hugged her. "River?"

"It's a long story, but I'm glad I will have a chance to tell you at some point," River replied. "Where's Emmy?"

"Outside, talking with people. The only people we're waiting for now are the matron of honor and the best man," Martha informed the Doctor and River.

They nodded and Martha left them. River looked around the house, taking in the sight of the home that she'd once known to be less festive, but nevertheless, home. "It hasn't changed much," she told the Doctor.

"Well, that's partly because we've been on Earth for the most part. But neither Emily nor I could bear to change anything."

River walked through the house and out to the back garden area, which had been attacked by lanterns and the same décor that had greeted her in the front of the house. She scanned the masses of people until she saw Emily.

The slender woman with a long curly hair was talking with a group of people. She had an air of grace all around her, and was completely different than River remembered her. Emily only saw her as she glanced around, looking for someone else. When Emily saw River, her mouth went slack, and her eyes widened. "River?" she asked in disbelief. "But… but… how?"

River ran to Emily and scooped her into a hug. It'd been a little over ten years for Emily, ten lifetimes for River in CAL's failing system. When their hug broke, Emily pulled away and looked into River's eyes urgently. "Wait… does he know?" she whispered.

"What?"

"That buzzing. Does he know?"

The he did not need to be specified for River. She nodded. "But enough about me… you're getting married!"

Emily blushed and nodded bashfully. "Oh, you'll love him… just you wait. Kind of a bumbling idiot, but they say girls marry men who are like their fathers," she giggled. "Well… that might not be right… nah… that's completely right."

When Riley met River, he wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She wasn't how he'd imagined her. He'd thought she'd be some blonde hauling around a tiny little laser pistol, packing heat and wearing impractical shoes. Just like Emily had portrayed her. Instead, he was met with a woman who was shorter than he was… a strawberry-blonde woman with furiously curly hair—what was it with the Doctor and his redheaded women—and looked completely and absolutely normal. One thing that Emily had been correct about: River most certainly did speak Spanish, but for whatever reason, the TARDIS was not translating her speech into English. Another thing that Emily was correct about: he really liked River. He could see a lot of Emily's traits in this woman, which explained so much about his future wife. He was thrilled that he now could see the root of some of the quirks of Emily.

When River met Riley, she knew exactly what to make of him. He was a tall, scrawny (she wondered if Emily ever fed him) man who held life in his eyes and encompassed joy in his smile. He was graceless; almost a little too naïve for his own good, she suspected, and had clearly managed to win Emily over with his charms. Even without hearing him talk, she knew that he was well-educated and was completely out of his element, even though he had been in this life for several years now. She could see exactly why Emily was marrying this man, and could see exactly why Riley was marrying Emily.

"Riley Bowen… I'm glad to meet the soul who is crazier than the Doctor," she said warmly as she pulled him into a hug.

"Um… yes… thank you?" he replied awkwardly. "Emmy… why isn't the TARDIS translating?"

"She knows you speak Spanish."

"But I haven't spoken in ages… I'm rather rubbish at it."

"And you're questioning why the TARDIS isn't translating… she's trying to help you out!"

Donna walked out of the house, saw the mass of people and came to the group. "What is going on here?"

Her mouth dropped when she saw River standing in front of her. "But… but you died," Donna stammered.

The Doctor put his arm around her and murmured into her ear: "Sometimes, that's not the best way of going about greeting people."

"But she died," Donna replied.

"The universe can be tricky sometimes… and brilliant, and wonderful. Don't question things like this until you have just cause to do so. And I know you have cause to, but we'll get to that when we get to that. Okay?"

"What?"

"Exactly."

"No… what do you mean?"

"I mean, it's very complicated and twisty, but it's done, she's fine, and we have a lot to celebrate. So, let's get to it!" he said as he clapped his hands.

River smiled as she saw Donna and walked towards her. "Thank you," River murmured into Donna's ear as they hugged.

"Why are you thanking me?" Donna asked. "I should be thanking you."

River smiled and shook her head. "Your thanks came from allowing me such wonderful years with those two. You gave me a family of sorts, and that's enough thanks I need."

Donna Noble was not usually a jealous woman, but upon the arrival of River Song, she was suddenly filled with a strange feeling of loathing that was very, very subtle, yet present. She had a slight idea how it had arrived, or but didn't know when it would leave and knew that this could prove to be a disaster if the green-eyed monster decided to rear its ugly head at the wedding.

She believed that this feeling had come about when she saw River, looking as fantastic as ever, just as she did at the Library nearly eleven years earlier, in her glory and power in the Doctor's life. This was the woman Donna had appealed to when she had been in some of the darkest days of her life with the Doctor, stuck on Appares Acwin, asking that River take up motherhood for the sake of Emily, the helpless little girl who Donna had brought into the Doctor's world of uncertainty. And now, as Donna glanced over at her adult daughter, the beautiful redhead who understood the world in ways Donna could never dream of understanding it, she couldn't help but see River more than she saw herself in Emily. Emily was River's daughter more than she was Donna's daughter.

The Doctor had spent the entirety of Emily's life constantly refuting claims that Emily was River's daughter, when he should have been spending that energy seeing how Emily was basically River. The journal entries all assured Donna that River wasn't making claims to Emily; with niceties about how lovely Emily was, and the remarks of how the Doctor believed that Emily was becoming more and more like Donna with each passing day. Donna had believed these claims, but now, she saw the truth. She'd seen Emily as being just like herself, but compared to River, she saw she had been wrong.

And she saw how Emily was now laughing with River, chattering excitedly about the wedding and gushing over Riley—things she'd never done with Donna in the last seven years they'd known each other— Donna felt as though she'd been replaced. Again.

Donna didn't realize she had stormed away, back into the house until the Doctor followed her in. "Donna?" he called out.

"What?" she snapped.

He found her in their room, sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. "What's going on?" he asked quietly as he closed the door behind him.

"What the hell are you thinking?" she asked him. "You're taking the attention away from Emmy and Riley by bringing River here."

Deep within his center, the Doctor felt all sensation cease. He didn't need telepathic tendencies to know exactly what was going on with Donna. "She's not replacing you. She's with Jack."

"Jack?"

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but then again, they do have quite a lot in common."

"Jack, as in Captain Jack?" Donna asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I should have known that something was going on between those two… he came around enough for it to be clear. All those times he wanted to go over alien technologies… I'm pretty sure now that I may have walked in on them a few times."

"You're not sure?" Donna asked, bemused and distracted from her emotional breakdown.

"Well, there was a lot of grunting, and I'm not one to snoop," he replied. "Yeah… now that I remember… there was a remarkable amount of odd noises coming from her room whenever Jack was around."

"Gawd, you're thick," she remarked in awe.

"I am selectively oblivious," he corrected her. "I don't find a need in knowing the sexual patterns of my companions."

"Liar," Donna instantly quipped before poking him in the shoulder.

"I didn't say all of my companions," he pointed out. "But Donna, there's no need to worry about this. Emmy's been saying since she was a little girl that she wanted to get married here, and have her family all here… you, me, River, Jack, Martha, the Ponds, Mickey—everyone. This is my wedding gift to her."

"Bringing River back is your wedding gift to her?"

He nodded. "Emily's never taken well to losing her mothers. She screamed when you went unconscious on Appares Acwin; she screamed when River died. I've been able to bring you back, and now, I've been able to bring her back."

"This is a matter of atonement for you, isn't it?" Donna realized. "You're atoning for your prior actions that have lead to the misfortunes of your companions, so you're going around, trying to be Mr. Fix-It for everything."

The Doctor said nothing and stood. "Please be rational with this. Emily is over the moon with this, and you've even said that you wished that you could talk to River. Here's your chance."

"That was a rhetorical statement…"

He knelt down in front of Donna and took her hands into his. He brought his forehead to hers and looked into her eyes. "I'm not about to apologize for this. And I think that you'll do a lot of damage if you do not let this go. I love you Donna, but sometimes you baffle me to no end. Please understand my point in doing what I have done."

"I'll try," Donna promised as she pulled him in for a kiss.

She really disliked this feeling, but felt it loosen during the rehearsal dinner in which everyone shared stories from the last eleven years, trying to bring River up to speed. Perhaps it was the fact that Riley was sitting next to River and looked just as lost as she did that helped Donna cope with this new situation. She didn't know why, but she accepted it as being something that helped. That—and the fact that Emily was getting married the next day—helped.


	79. Days of Atonement: Part 34

Part Thirty-Four

It was the day of the wedding, and Jack decided he'd start celebrating early. To do so, Jack caught River's elbow and pulled her into an empty room with every intention to welcome River back to life properly. "Hi," he remarked simply as he grinned. "It's been a while, but I'm glad you're back."

"You and I need to have a little chat at some point," River told him pointedly.

"Doc already told me," Jack replied.

"About the baby?"

He nodded. "The only thing we can figure is that you were in a time lock that kept your physical being in a state of sameness. That's the only way that this could have happened."

"And what are your thoughts about what happened?"

"Well," he began slowly as he broke into a smile, "I'm pretty lucky."

"And?"

"Well, you'll need to live at the Hub."

"No. Not in a million years."

"Why?"

"I rather like my house, thank you very much!"

"But I can't do Torchwood from a little cottage on the sea."

"You've got yourself a Vortex Manipulator, have you not?"

Emily came running into the room, nearly falling over as she stopped up short. "Have either of you seen Riley anywhere?" she asked, gasping for air.

Both River and Jack eyed Emily warily. She was wearing a slip, her stockings and garters, and had her hair in curlers. "Your hair is already curly…" River pointed out.

"Have you seen Riley?" Emily asked, her voice becoming more and more like a growl. "He's apparently legged it and no one has seen him since this morning."

River stood up and walked over to Emily, placing her hands on Emily's bare shoulders. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere. He couldn't have gone far."

"My Vortex Manipulator is gone."

River's face paled slightly. "Oh dear… that is a problem."

Emily let out a groan. River panicked, bringing her hands up to her mouth before waving them around as if she were trying to distract Emily. "No, no, no, no! That came out wrong. I meant…"

"I know what you meant, and I know what it means. We've got a runner," Emily replied in a low voice. "If I ever find him… oh he will be on his knees, groveling like a fool by the time I'm done with him."

"Don't resort to violence," Jack called out. "Doc doesn't like that."

"This isn't helping me!" Emily exclaimed in exasperation.

"Relax. He'll show up," River assured her.

"And what if he doesn't?"

"I know forty-five ways to kill someone just by using a spoon."

"What?" Emily asked in awe and disbelief.

"I have a dark past," River offered as an explanation of her skill.

"Okay… not even going to ask… but how does that track him down now?"

Jack stood up and walked over to them. "Well… what's the Doctor doing about it right now?"

"He's muttering something about sending him away in the Pandorica."

"What?" Jack asked. "That's only a fairy tale."

River held up her finger to indicate that he was about to stand corrected. "Turns out it is not. We had a lot of fun with that lot. The Ponds will tell you all about it," she stated.

"I want you to tell me all about it," Jack muttered saucily.

"Ugh… this isn't helping!" Emily's tone was getting less and less rational as the seconds ticked on by.

"Emmy, what is it that you want us to do?" Jack asked her.

"Find him… please! He's the groom, and I'd really rather not have to be the first one to castigate him if or when he shows up."

"I think you'd be the least of his problems, quite honestly," Jack muttered.

River elbowed Jack in the ribs. Ignoring his cry of pain, she spoke. "Emmy, we will do all that we can do to find Riley. But you need to be prepared that he might not show up."

Emily rubbed her forehead and tried to blink back tears. "Of all the times he could just run off…"

"I know. It's hard, but we will find him."

"He's not a commitment-phobe… I know that!"

"Of course," River replied, pulling Emily into a hug.

Donna came into the room. "Emmy, why aren't you getting into your dress yet?"

When she saw that River was hugging Emily and saw Emily crying, it registered with her that something was wrong. "Oh no—what happened?"

"He's gone missing," River explained. "He hasn't been seen since this morning."

Donna's face went ashen white. "Oh that little…"

"Mum…" Emily snapped as she broke away from River.

Donna's face flushed slightly as she saw Emily's sudden movement. "You haven't seen him since this morning?" Donna asked, to verify her suspicions.

"No… I didn't see him at all today. Martha mentioned that she was having trouble finding him. When I went looking for him, I discovered my Vortex Manipulator was missing."

"He'll show up. I promise."

Emily blinked and walked out of the room. "I'm going to go get dressed."

"Yes, that's a good plan. Just get into the dress and maybe he'll show up."

"No. No dress. And he will show up. Maybe not for his wedding, but he'll show up."

Emily stormed out of the room, ripping out hair curlers with each step she took. Her angry footfalls echoed through the hallway until a door slammed, making Donna, Jack, and River jump. "Wherever he is, I hope he's got a good alibi. If I were him, I wouldn't bother coming back," Jack remarked.

River elbowed him again. "How can you say that?" she asked in anger. "She's practically your goddaughter, and her fiancé has gone missing. You've known her since the day she was born, and here you are, suggesting that her fiancé shouldn't show up?"

"River, I'm not condoning it. But we both know that Emily's temper can start wars. How do you think the Trojan War started?"

"Um… it started with Helen's affair with Paris…"

"Right, right, right… but who do you think—"

"Your argument is invalid."

River turned to walk out of the room, her arms folded across her chest. "Wow, way to just cut me down like that," Jack remarked as he followed her. "You don't even stop to consider my point for a second."

"Your point is an insult to my education," River refuted before rounding the corner into another room.

Donna walked out of the room and found Emily in her street clothes. "Where do you think you're going?" Donna asked her daughter.

"I'm leaving."

"It's your wedding!"

"Yeah… I know. Funny how things work out."

"Emmy, he'll show up. He's Riley… he's got a strong conscience. What if he shows up and you're gone?"

"Then he'll know how it feels."

"That's not the right way of going about this."

"Mum. Stop."

"No. I'm not going to let you do something stupid."

Donna blocked Emily's only way out by standing in front of the front door. Emily crossed her arms across her chest and stared Donna down. "You really think that's going to work?" she asked her mother, her temper remaining somewhat at bay.

"What if he turns up?"

"I don't know if I want to be married to someone who doesn't have enough sense to stick around on the day of his wedding. I don't want to marry a little boy who runs away because he's scared. How the hell am I supposed to rely on him when things are actually scary?"

"Marriage is terrifying," Donna replied defensively. "He's marrying into a pretty uncertain situation. If I was in his position, and I have been, I'd be scared out of my mind."

"But you didn't run. He did," Emily pointed out. "If he runs for this, what on earth will he do when we have kids, one of us gets sick, something drastic and disastrous happens? What then?"

Emily pushed her way past Donna and left the house. Donna, sighing in exasperation, turned to follow Emily. "Emmy, can you please see the forest through the trees?"

Emily whipped around and Donna stopped up short. "Could you imagine if Dad were a wimbly little boy? No courage strong enough to keep him around for his wedding? Would you still stay with him?"

"Of course. I love him."

"Yeah, well, that's just brilliant. I'm happy for you. But I'm not sure if I can say the same for Riley and me. I could just go out into London, and within two minutes, I could land myself a wimbly little idiot who could easily replace Riley, if that's what Riley is making himself out to be. I'm not going to enter into a marriage after he's disappeared."

"But you're overlooking the good times you've had together. You're overlooking how much you love him."

"Love isn't the only thing that makes a relationship or a marriage. He told me he would be here today, and he's not. How the hell am I supposed to trust him when he breaks a promise like that?" Emily cried out in anger as she disappeared.

Donna turned back to see River and Jack down the hall. "He had better show up soon," she muttered.

They nodded in earnest agreement.


	80. Days of Atonement: Part 35

Part Thirty-Five, Post One

Riley did show up. Three hours after Emily disappeared. The wedding was cancelled, the guests sent home, and the Doctor, Donna, Jack, River, Martha, and the Ponds were left to figure out how things fell apart. When Riley walked into the room, he let out a groan, announcing his arrival. "Well, nice of you to show up," Donna remarked in an unpleasant tone.

"I know… I'm so sorry. Is Emmy here?"

"No."

"What do you mean? Where has she gone?"

"Oh, who the hell knows? Maybe she went where you flitted off to?" Donna remarked before she shoved herself away from the table and stormed out of the room.

River pointed to Donna's now-vacant chair. "Sit," she commanded in a growl.

Riley did as he was told, sitting down timidly. He gulped and looked at the judgment panel he was now facing. "When did she go?"

"We'll ask the questions, thank you very much," Amy said as she stood up and braced herself on the table. "What on earth were you thinking?"

"I, uh, was nervous. But I'm fine now!"

"Well, that doesn't do us any good, now does it?" Martha asked as she crossed her arms even tighter. "You're two hours late to your wedding. We had to send everyone home!"

Sylvia walked into the room. "Oh… Mr. Cold Feet showed up. Have your feet thawed?"

Riley turned around in his seat, his eyes seeded with fear. "Uh… I think so…"

"How dare you do such an awful thing to my great-granddaughter! The poor thing has been so excited about becoming your wife, and then you go and do that? You're lucky some of us have the sense not to let others have guns in this house!" Sylvia hissed before adding: "the Doctor has enough sense not to let an elderly woman near any shot guns… but if he didn't… oh, I'd be showing you what happens when this old lady gets angry and gets a gun!"

The Doctor said nothing to contribute or cease the castigation that Riley was enduring. He knew that Riley still had to endure Emily's wrath, which was probably twice as harsh as what he would ultimately get from this group facing him. If he didn't break from this, he might have a shot at surviving the talking-to he'd be getting from Emily. That is, if Emily ever had any interest in speaking to him again. She wasn't exactly one to let grudges down easily, and this was certainly one grudge she could possibly hold on to for ages.

No one would be able to recount exactly what happened next in accurate detail, but before Riley could prepare himself, everyone started shouting in anger. He clamped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. Finally, River slammed her fist down on the table. "That's enough!" she shouted angrily. "Don't scare him off completely!"

Riley opened one eye, still cowering with his hands covering his ears. River glanced at him and then back at the crowd. "Okay, everyone out. It's about time that Riley and I get to know each other. Out, out!" she called out as everyone started to get out of their chairs and leave the room.

When everyone else was gone, River sat down next to Riley. "You're different," she said quietly, in case others were listening in.

He looked at her, his eyes glassy. "Yeah?"

"It's okay, I'm not about to go yelling at you."

"Why? You should be."

"You're right: I should be, but I'm not. It won't do a bit of good."

Riley stared at his hands. "How brutally will she murder me?" he asked, trying to lessen the tension.

"It's rare that I've seen anyone make Emmy that angry. And I've seen her get that angry before."

He sighed deeply. "What were you thinking?" River continued. "You love her, right?"

"Of course. It's not a question of whether I love her not. It's not a question of whether I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with her… it's the fact that I will spend the rest of my life with her, but she won't spend the rest of her life with me."

River sat back in her seat and inhaled deeply. She understood why he had bolted. Of course he was feeling insecure about Emily's longevity in comparison to his own. "She chose you."

"I know that."

"She chose you, still chooses you, and will always choose you," River told him.

"What have I got… another sixty, seventy years at best? She's got much longer than that. I'm just a blip on her radar, when she's everything I am."

"Riley, if you run because of something like that, I'm certain you're in for a world of hurt… and not from Emmy or any of us, but from yourself. Have the last few years taught you nothing?"

He laughed quietly. "It tears me apart to think that she will move on after I'm long gone and start up another life… another husband, another family. And I will be forever a fleeting thought."

"It's quite possible that your fears are correct, but do you think that running away from what you could possibly have is the better option than living out the life that you think she'll walk away from? Explain your logic for me," River replied gently.

Riley had been told stories of River from the time that he and Emily met. "She was brilliant," Emily had told him many times, always in the same nostalgic tone that made him wonder what exactly had happened to River. Even though he'd asked many times, the story had never been told to him. Sad looks had always flashed across the faces of those who knew the story, but never recounted it. Now, he was sitting across from a woman who was very important to Emily, the same woman who was trying to figure him out just as much as he was trying to figure her out.

"That is my logic, I guess."

"Your guess? You don't know?"

"Well, it's not so simple. I needed to think this over."

"Think over your decision?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"It's a big step."

"And you didn't think about thinking over your decision before you asked Emmy to marry you?"

"It didn't really hit me until all the guests started showing up, and you came back, and things started making more sense than ever before. Please don't think I'm simple-minded or ignorant… I'm not well-versed in this lifestyle yet, and the more I learn, the more terrified I become of the universe."

"So why on earth would you run away from Emmy when it's clear that you're becoming increasingly dependent of her?"

"Isn't that what getting cold feet is all about? Realizing how much you need someone when before you weren't so sure why the person was in your life at all? Realizing that you need the commitment in order to be fully human, and then, from that, really freaking out?"

"To some extent… but to me, it sounds like you've just described every single reason why you shouldn't have run away today. To me, it sounds like you've known for a while why you want to marry Emmy, why you want to spend the rest of your life with her, regardless of whether or not she spends the rest of her life with you."

"I guess the question now is, how do I make up for what I've done?" Riley asked her quietly.

"Emmy's not the most forgiving person in the world. I always tried to help her with that, but for whatever reason, she just never got the concept down. I think that if you told her everything that you've just told me, she might understand what happened. You'll need to understand that running out on your bride, however, is frowned upon in nearly every single culture of the universe. There are only one or two cultures that embrace the concept and you do not live in one of those cultures. She's got every right to be upset with you, and if she does lash out, let it be. Unless it gets to be excessive, in which case, just let me know and I'll come in and help you out. I dealt with her when she was going through the Terrible Twos phase… I'm a pro at handling Time Lord temper outbursts."

Riley nodded silently as River stood up. "Don't worry… if you do things right, she'll eventually come around. The worst that will happen is that she will never talk to you again and we'll have to ship you off to Appares Acwin," she muttered with a sly wink.

"Oh goody," he remarked dryly, to which, River let out a giggle before she left the room.

As she suspected, the Doctor was standing behind the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation. "So?" he asked as River rounded the corner.

"Oh, like you weren't listening the whole time."

"You were speaking quietly… I couldn't hear everything."

"Good. It was supposed to be a private conversation."


	81. Days of Atonement: Part 36

Emily turned up the next morning, bearing bagels, lox, coffee, and all the fixings for each. "Good morning," she greeted everyone as she walked through the front door with the food and drinks.

Donna stood with her hands on her hips, almost in the same fashion as Sylvia, with a concerned look on her face. "And where were you?" Donna asked Emily in an accusing tone.

"Well… can't say really. I was here and there, ended up in New York City, may have met Audrey Hepburn, and then, after all of that, I got breakfast. Eat up, it's not going to be hot forever," Emily replied in a strangely chipper voice.

Everyone started to dig through bags and boxes to get to their food. When Riley walked into the room, the noise level decreased exponentially. "Emmy?" he asked.

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "When did the runner get back?" she asked sarcastically.

"Last night, about three hours after you left," River explained before she pulled Emily's ear towards her face. "Be nice."

"I don't have to be nice."

"Emily…" River growled quietly. "We've all given him a talking to. It was not a pleasant experience for anyone, so I highly suggest you play it cool with him."

She gave River a look, but said nothing. She went back to fixing her breakfast and ignoring Riley. "So, I guess this means we're not getting married today," he remarked.

"Are you mental?" Emily erupted.

He took a step back as Emily's anger took control and she marched toward him. "You think that I would honestly marry you after what you did last night?" she exclaimed in rage.

"I freaked out!" he retorted loudly.

"So? Marriage is terrifying, but you didn't see me running away!"

"What do you call your little escapade last night?"

"Oh, that was so when you turned up, I didn't kill you the very second I saw you!" Emily bellowed.

Riley stepped toward her and for the first time in their relationship, felt confident enough to argue his point with Emily, who had domineered their relationship from the very start. He wasn't going to stand back and be passive any longer; this was his fight too, and if Emily was going to be like this, he was going to give it right back. It wasn't effective to solving the problem, nor was it good for anyone's sake, but he was going to do this.

"You left too. Don't pin this on me," he growled.

Emily glared at him. "Don't try to be tough and Mr. Macho-I-Can-Argue-Like-A-Man because the entire family is here. I see right through that façade, and you know that. Back off."

"You back off."

"You don't want to see me back off," she hissed. "If I back off, I'm never coming back."

"So leave. I don't really care."

River shoved an arm in between the two. "Enough!" she yelled. "Get the hell away from each other and if you're good, we'll let you to talk later. But for now, you two need to get away from each other before someone murders someone else. Emily…"

"I'm not done," she replied.

"We are. Go, get out!" River said as she led Riley and Emily out of the kitchen and pushed them into two different directions down the hallway.

When she returned, the group stared at her with disbelief. "Did you just put them into time-out," Martha asked in bewilderment.

River nodded. "Who wants to go talk to Riley?" she asked the group.

"Who is talking to Emmy?" Donna asked.

"I am," River replied.

"Don't you think… that, you know…" Donna stammered.

"Someone else should go in?" River offered up. "Sure. And deal with the irrational Emily? Go right ahead."

"You act like you've dealt with Emily when she's like this," Donna replied.

"I have. You read the journal… the descriptions of the temper tantrums that I wrote in the journal hardly do a justice. This could get very ugly very quickly. Am I right, Doctor?"

"I'll talk to Riley," the Doctor replied quickly, proving River's point that dealing with Emily could turn ugly very quickly.

"Well, that's settled then. Doctor, why don't you go talk to him, and I'll go talk to Emmy. Donna, if you want, you can come in and talk to her after I do," River said before she left the room.

Upon entering Emily's room without knocking, River sat down on the bed facing Emily. "You see, Riley is like a deer. He doesn't cry, and he's afraid of loud noises."

"I am pretty sure that is one of the weirdest ways to start a conversation," Emily remarked dryly.

"But it is true. Emmy, you wouldn't be betting all worked up like this if this weren't something that was so pressing to you. If you didn't care about him, you wouldn't care about this."

"I can't trust him anymore."

"Sure you can. He came back, didn't he?"

"He wouldn't have had to come back if he hadn't left in the first place."

"Riley told me that he was terrified of spending the rest of his life with you when you couldn't spend the rest of your life with him."

"You're kidding. That's why he left?" Emily asked, irritated. "I thought we'd moved past that!"

"So, this is a problem that's been around for a while?"

"It came up about three years ago. We had a long, drug-out fight about it. I'm not trying to disqualify his concerns, but when this was something that came up three years ago, I am slow to believe that's the full reason."

"It's a scary thing to consider," River pointed out.

"I get that… I get that constantly. And quite honestly, it's scarier for me than it is for him, because when he's gone, he's gone. I'm not going to be with him for the rest of my life and I don't know what I'll do when he's gone."


	82. Days of Atonement: Part 37

The Doctor walked over to Riley's room and saw that he was sitting at the window, reading a book. "Relationship book?" the Doctor asked, trying to crack a joke.

Riley glanced up and placed his bookmark into the pages. He closed the book and held it up. "Nope. History of the French Revolution."

"Oh. You know, that was quite an experience… Marie didn't really say Let Them Eat Cake, you know."

"You were there?"

"No. I read the same book," the Doctor replied as he stood in front of Riley. "It's a good book."

Riley snorted with laughter and turned to look out the window with a sigh. "So… they sent you in here for a reason."

"My daughter rarely expresses emotions like that. She's rarely that irrational and quite honestly, you've made enemies of everyone here. But, you make her happy, so no one's done anything quite rash yet. If you want to be with her, just go and be with her. If you don't want to be with her, don't be with her. Just don't drag her along anymore. Everyone is rooting for you two because we know how happy you make each other."

"When you married Donna…"

"Completely different circumstance," the Doctor interrupted.

"When you married Donna, did you feel as though there was something so right about it, yet it was wrong at the same time?" Riley asked.

"Well, yes. I would have liked to have married her with her consent."

"And does it freak you out to know that Donna will die before you do?"

"Yes."

"Does it freak Donna out?"

"I'm sure she has her qualms about it, but we have both come to appreciate the time we have together. We live in the present, not in the past or in the future. That's how you're supposed to live. And lucky for me, I get to live in the present while meddling in the affairs of the past, present, or future. Is this why you're upset?"

"Yes. I mean, Emmy and I have discussed this matter many times, but I am scared that no one will be there to take care of her when I'm gone."

"She will be fine. I promise."

Riley looked skeptical, but nodded finally. "Okay. I believe you."

The Doctor grinned. "Now… I think you have one hell of an apology ahead of you, and it's not getting any better the longer you're in hiding, reading about the French Revolution."

Riley agreed by standing up and adjusting his glasses. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Jack and River would like to get married? I mean, I doubt that Emmy's going to jump right in and marry me, and those two do have a baby on the way…"

"River and Jack aren't necessarily the type to go running to traditional ideals," the Doctor laughed.

"Do you think they'd want to get married instead of Emmy and me?"

"It's plausible."

"Okay. Do you think Emmy would strangle me if I were to suggest this to them?"

"I think Emmy's on the verge of strangling you anyway… so if she were going to strangle you, you might as well do something nice before you die," the Doctor answered in a dry tone.

"True…" Riley replied in the same manner.

The two men emerged from the room and found Emily and River back with everyone else. "Riley?" Emily asked quietly. "Can we speak in private?"

He nodded and they walked out to the verandah and sat down. "Well…" he said first.

"I'm not marrying you today. Or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. It has become clear that we need to rethink marriage, and that's not something we can do in a few hours or days. You broke my trust."

"I know."

"And I need to trust you."

"I know."

"Riley… I need more than just I Know."

"Emmy, I realized when I was in the Highlands…"

"You went to the Highlands?" she asked in surprise. "That was the first place I looked."

"Where we were when we decided to become a couple?"

"Exactly that place."

"Well… I don't know how you could have missed me. Anyway, when I was there, I realized how stupid this was. How stupid it was for me to just run off when it clearly wasn't doing anything to help me figure things out. I freaked out when I met all these people from your life that I'd never dreamt of meeting, especially River…"

"You weren't the only one who freaked out about River showing up," Emily interjected.

"Can I finish?"

Emily nodded and placed her hands in her lap. "I didn't know what to do, so I ran. It was the wrong choice, but that was the choice I made. I hope you can forgive me, because I really do want to spend the rest of my life with you, regardless of if you spend the rest of your life with me," Riley said clearly. "Now, I'm done."

"It really was stupid, but I understand why you did it."

"Okay. I guess that's all I can ask for at this point."

"But that doesn't necessarily resolve all the problems now."

"Strangely enough, I'm okay with that."

Emily didn't say anything, but stared at her hands. She then stared off toward the tent that the Doctor, Jack, and several relatives of Riley's had put up. "It seems so stupid that all of this is going to go to waste," she remarked.

Her eyes flicked over to Riley. "Damn… you're good," she murmured.

"What?"

"Telepathic tendencies, remember?"

"Right… but what am I good at… I mean, why am I good?"

"Jack and River."

"Oh, yeah… did that thought cross your mind too?"

"Only when the moralistic side of me turned on when I found out River was pregnant and it was Jack's kid. But I wasn't thinking that it'd be their wedding instead of ours. I just thought we'd use all of this for two weddings."

"Should we offer the wedding to them?"

"Yes. I'd like that."

For the first time in what seemed like days, but really was only a matter of hours, Emily smiled and felt happy about the situation.


	83. Days of Atonement: Part 38

"Are you sure you won't wear this later?" River asked Emily as Emily zipped up the back of an off-white dress with a green-tea-green sash settled low around the waist.

"I've found that the second woman to wear my wedding dresses tends to have better luck with getting married. No data on whether or not the marriages last, but I think you've got a good chance at it working out," Emily said as she busied herself with tying the sash.

"This is a habit of yours?" River asked in surprise.

"It's happened a few times. The first time was on Appares Acwin… would have married a prince if it hadn't been for some sly slide of hand trickery. The second time was on Messaline; apparently I was the first runaway bride they ever had… the bloke was nice enough… though, I could never tell what he was saying… all bubbles and such. The third time…"

"This has happened a few times," River interrupted.

"Yup. You're the seventeenth time," Emily replied cheerfully. "It's actually quite amazing that Riley hasn't left me, given all the times this has happened."

River laughed and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She sighed. "What?" Emily asked as she peered over River's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"It should be you. I mean, I can picture you in this dress perfectly."

Emily didn't say anything, but instead, went about fiddling with River's hair. "It's still just as curly as before," Emily remarked. "But I don't remember it being this color."

"Sonic screwdriver setting 234"

"Oh, I know that setting quite well," Emily laughed. "That one came in quite handy when I was squiggling myself out of the marriage on Appares Acwin."

Emily gathered a handful of curls and started pinning them to the top of her head. "Are you two going to get married?" River asked after a few minutes of watching Emily intently working on her hair.

"I don't know. I suspect that we might eventually, but who knows?" Emily replied thoughtfully. "Can you turn your head to the right for me?"

River turned her head and Emily started fussing with a rogue piece of hair that wouldn't stay flat. River laughed. "It's almost like when you were little and your curls were a nightmare. There were times when I almost glued your hair down because it was so unruly."

"Oh, that still happens now. Though, I haven't thought of using glue. Thanks for the hair-styling tip," Emily laughed.

Donna knocked on the door, which was slightly ajar. She poked her head in the door and smiled. "May I join you ladies?" she asked.

Emily nodded, because she had a hairpin in her mouth and couldn't speak. "Wow, River… you look lovely," Donna remarked as she sat down on the chair in the corner of the room, near the closet and the window. "Whose dress is that?"

"Emmy's. I can't believe it fit."

Donna looked at Emily. "She's wearing your dress?"

"Yup," Emily replied, the hairpin now out of her mouth.

"But you spent ages looking for the right dress… and now Riley's going to see it!"

Emily sighed and looked over River's head at Donna. "Mum, we still have no idea what we're going to do… it could be ages before we get married, if we ultimately decide to get married. I want River to wear it."

"Well, I'm not dress shopping with you for the next one," Donna replied stiffly before looking at River. "It was a flipping nightmare dress shopping with this one. She tried on the same dress four times thinking they were different dresses!"

River laughed. "Sounds just like Emmy… you know, when she was little, she absolutely could not stand tomatoes. But, if we were to call them spaghetti fruits, she'd eat them. Same thing with zucchini… except we had to call them green submarines."

Emily nodded in agreement. "I actually still refer to tomatoes and zucchini as spaghetti fruits and green submarines. Riley didn't know what the hell I was talking about when I asked him to pick out a few green submarines while I went to get some spaghetti fruits when we were at a farmers' market a few years back. And Mum… I wasn't trying on the same dress four different times because I thought they were different dresses, I was trying on the same dress because I liked it… and ultimately, I liked that dress so much that it was the dress I chose."

River and Donna looked at the dress. Donna hummed something in agreement. "I guess you're right… I thought it looked familiar."

"It's a lovely dress, and I'm honored that I get to wear it," River remarked as she patted Emily's hand.

A knock came upon the door and the Doctor peered in. "Hi ladies… are we ready?" he asked, glancing around at the women in the room.

"Just about," Emily said. "We'll bring her when she's ready."

A few minutes later, River was being led by the Doctor to her place for the ceremony, leaving Donna and Emily to finish getting ready. "You let her wear your dress? Why?" Donna hissed.

Emily sighed. "Mum… this jealous routine you've got going on isn't becoming on you. You have to remember that River is the reason a lot of things in my life are like this, and I'm going to defend her if you're going to be catty with her. And vice versa. She is my Mimmy, and that's that."

"Mimmy?"

"I couldn't just call her Mummy or Mum knowing that you were out there. Mimmy. Don't knock it."

"Emily, it's your wedding dress."

"It's her house."

"But you're supposed to be the one getting married," Donna reminded her.

Emily sighed and turned towards her mother. "I'm quite aware of that. It's not happening, so knock it off. I don't care who the hell was supposed to get married today… I care about who is actually getting married today. There are a lot of could've, would've, should've moments in this situation, and you can argue all you want, but it is what it is, and quite honestly, this matter is incontrovertible; there is nothing to discuss here."

"You have no right to speak to me like that," Donna replied darkly. "How dare you."

"How dare you question my actions when they do not impact you in the slightest?"

"You're my daughter; I'm supposed to have your best interests at heart!"

"It's a dress! She's wearing a dress. Now, unless an alien attack were to just spontaneously happen—not to say that it couldn't—and the dress were to be burnt to a crisp, I'd be more upset about the fact that River got burnt to a crisp than if the dress were to be destroyed. She's borrowing the dress. I'm not giving it to her, and there is nothing that states that I can't wear the dress in the future. Stop making a huge deal about this, stop being angry about the dress. It's not about the dress, it's about the relationship that River and I have. If you're going to be bitter and argumentative about something, at least be truthful about what is making you bitter and argumentative," Emily snapped before she turned away from her mother.

"You treat her like she's your mother."

"Well, can you blame me?"

"But she's not your mother."

"She was my mother when you could not be my mother."

Emily turned back to Donna as she finished putting on earrings. "You told Dad to find River and have her help him. She did what you hoped she would. I see how that would be hard for you; watching someone else raise your child would be difficult, but Mum, it is what it is. We made the best of it, and look— I have my entire family here. I have both of my mothers, my father, my siblings, my confused fiancé, my godfather, my friends… and you make it seem like I should not be happy that River's here, or value my childhood because you're upset that you couldn't have been there."

"You treat her like she's a saint."

"There's a reason Dad holds her in such high esteem. There were times when we wondered why the hell she stuck around because things were so awful."

"You act like you love her more."

Emily gave Donna a look of skepticism. "Don't tell me you honestly believe that. River was the one who read me bedtime stores and kissed my bumps and scrapes to make them feel better. You're the one who is willing to go wallop my fiancé for running off and spent an entire day watching me try on the same dress four times. Mum, she did a good job, didn't she?"

Riley walked down the hall. "Are you two ready? The ceremony is about to start."

Emily held up a finger. "She's my Mimmy, you're my Mum. I love River for what she sacrificed and gave for me and Dad, and I love you because you're my mum, and you're there for me. Please don't ever forget that, because it really upsets me that you are upset about the relationship that River and I have. We have fourteen years' worth of history, while you and I have only seven. And in all honesty, she looks bloody fantastic in that dress," Emily said with a smile.

Donna couldn't help but to agree. Riley stood awkwardly, waiting for Emily so he could escort her down the aisle. "Are you going to take my arm?" Riley asked.

"I'm fine," Emily replied quietly.

"But you need to take my arm."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Emmy…"

"Riley, I'm not above slapping you."

"Fine."

The ceremony went as planned; the Doctor presided over the ceremony, and most of the guests who had been sent home the night before had returned for Jack and River's wedding. Shortly after the ceremony, everyone resorted to the tent for food, drinks, and jubilance. When it was time for the first dance, Emily took a seat near the dance floor.

River and Jack danced around the dance floor, completely absorbed in the moment, blissfully unaware of the party guests around them. Emily watched with a wan smile on her face, knowing that it should have been her and Riley they were all watching.

He always had an uncanny way of showing up when Emily thought of him. Riley sat down next to her and watched her watching the newlyweds. "Hi," he remarked quietly.

She broke her gaze as she turned to him. "Hi," she replied.

"I brought drinks," he said, gesturing to two glasses he'd brought from the bar area.

"Thanks," she said as she took what she believed to be her drink.

She took a sip and set the drink back down on the table. Riley tried to hold her hand, but as soon as he placed his hand over hers, she shot him a look and slid her hand away. "Please don't do that. I'm not ready for you to do that, because I'm not ready to move on from what happened."

"Will you ever be ready to move on from what happened?"

"Yes, someday, but I need to let this run its course. It's not worth anything to just make this all go away right here and right now."

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her.

Emily shot him a look, like she so often did. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. We've got a dance floor, we've got music, we've got quite a few reasons why we should dance, and I think we should take advantage of all of these things," he remarked.

He stood up and held his hand out to her. "Riley… I don't think I can."

"Come on… it will be fun. I've been practicing, so I won't be completely rubbish out there," he urged her as he flailed his hands around in front of her face.

Emily thought he looked rather like an octopus, given this absurd motion he was making. "Was that one of the dance moves you've been working on?" she asked him quietly.

"Yes," he remarked, trying to make her laugh.

She only watched him with wide eyes of mild interest. For this, he dropped his arms and sighed. "You're really not going to dance."

"I'm still upset with you, and I feel like this will only encourage you."

He closed his eyes. "Okay. Fine. But in the future, you have no right to say that I didn't try. Because, if you didn't notice, this is me trying," he remarked somberly before leaving Emily for the rest of the night.

_At least someone had gotten married_, Emily kept telling herself. Not that it made anything regarding the wedding that should have happened better, but it was a mild comfort to know that not all of this had gone to waste and that she could possibly still have a chance to make things in their relationship better.

She resigned to watching Jack and River in peaceful bliss, trying to remember how any of this had happened.


	84. Days of Atonement: Part 39

The cottage was strangely quiet the following morning. Everyone was still sleeping off the festivity of the night before when Emily awoke. She felt strangely remorseless for not marrying Riley the day before. She felt that this was a fair compromise, considering that that River and Jack got married and started their lives together.

She dressed and then padded down the hallway, trying not to wake anyone. When she passed through the series of rooms where people were sleeping, she had reached the exterior door that led to the verandah that overlooked the beach below. Closing the door behind her, Emily smiled at the early morning light washing the sand and the water in front of her.

As she walked down the steps, down to the beach, she thought about what the future would bring for those in her life. River and Jack were months away from becoming parents; Martha just weeks away from becoming a grandmother. The Doctor and Donna were going to make it official on twenty more planets, and then decide to make it official on every other planet they could. The Ponds were about to witness their sons become adults, and then ultimately become parents-in-law, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on and so forth.

Emily wasn't speculating when she thought about the future: in her time away from the cottage when Riley disappeared, she had swiped the spare Vortex Manipulator that she knew her father kept on hand in the TARDIS and had gone on a little joyride to everyone's futures.

In her angry departure, Emily was reluctant to take a look into Riley's future. She didn't think that the future would differ too greatly from what she believed the future to be, but when she finally crumbled to her curiosities, she was surprised to see that everything she perceived his future to be was wrong. Completely wrong.

She kept walking a little further when she heard someone running behind her. She looked over and saw Riley had caught up. "Running away?" he asked her quietly.

"Maybe."

"Well, don't go too far," he remarked as he walked close to her, but didn't make a move to touch her.

"No, not too far. Just until I can't see the house anymore," Emily replied wistfully.

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Emily walked toward the broken waves and waded out to a group of boulders jutting out of the sea. She waded through the rushing sea foam to get to the largest of the boulders. Riley stayed away from the water, figuring that this was the best way to let her have her space. Emily looked over her shoulder. "Are you not joining me?" she asked him.

"Do you want me to?" he asked her with a sad smile.

"If you want to, there's space for you."

He waded out to the boulder and climbed up next to Emily. She had her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her calves. Riley couldn't help but to notice her hair was falling out of the loose bun she'd thrown it into in lieu of her normal routine of taking a shower. He didn't know why she showered so much; she hardly ever smelled bad. Perhaps it was just the act of washing away the daily accumulation of dirt that living brought about that made Emily keep to her hygiene habits. "Silly question, but what are we going to do?" he asked her quietly, almost so quiet that the roar of the ocean overpowered his words.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I think we've both determined that marriage isn't the best option."

"But it's not the worst option either," he quickly refuted.

Emily turned toward him. "Riley, what do you want to do in life?" she asked him. "What is that you really, Really, REALLY want to do with your life? Your life passion."

"My life passion?"

"Yeah. What is it that serves to drive you?"

"Emmy, you should know what that is."

"I should, but you've proven to me in the last few days that I can't rely on what I've known of you anymore."

He was silent for a moment, thinking. "I haven't the slightest idea."

"Then how could you possibly know what to do with your life?" Emily asked him.

"I may not know what I want in life, but I know who I want in life. I want to be with you," he told her.

"I don't think that's true though."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. I know you're fiercely loyal and committed to this relationship, but I'm scared that if we go through with this, you're going to wake up and realize what you want to do with your life and realize that I don't fit into those plans."

"I guess now would be a terrible time to suggest we run off and elope," Riley replied lightly.

Emily batted at him. "Yes," she replied as she laughed gently.

The pregnant silence that followed immediately after was reminiscent of the early days of their relationship. Everything was awkward, uncertain, gawky, and almost painful. Emily finally murmured, echoing Riley's original question: "What are we going to do?"

"You act like I'd know," Riley replied with a snort of laughter. "Maybe we do nothing."

"But it seems like we're supposed to do something," Emily insisted.

"Well, you don't want to marry me, I want to marry you, and put together, we get nowhere. So, it seems as though we are meant to do nothing."

"I never said I don't want to marry you," Emily corrected him. "I simply said I have no interest in marrying you right now, given the circumstances."

"That's not saying that you want to marry me."

"And it's not saying that I don't want to marry you."

"This shouldn't be so difficult."

"But alas, it is," Emily breathed.

They sat for a while longer, maybe ten minutes, maybe twenty minutes, maybe an hour longer on the boulder before Emily noted that the tide was rising. "We should go in before the tide gets any higher. We might be swimming back if we don't head back in now."

Riley nodded and slid off the rock, waiting for Emily at the bottom and holding his hand out to her. She slid into his arms, and as if none of the events of a few days previous had occurred, they walked back to the shore, hand in hand. "I guess now, we go back to reality and figure out what we're going to do with our lives."

"Exactly," Emily replied as her stomach growled. "But first, we need to get breakfast."

Riley laughed, and they continued to walk down the beach, back to the house, completely uncertain about what the future had in store for them, even though Emily had seen his future. But now was not the time to focus on the future. It was time to focus on the present and the past to rebuild the threadbare patches of their relationship.


	85. Days of Atonement: Part 40

A pair of handcuffs came in quite handy when it came time for Riley and Emily to tie the knot. River brought along her set of handcuffs and handcuffed Riley to the radiator the second they got to the chapel. Emily's vision of getting married at the cottage had been quickly discarded, and they had decided to get married in Britain. "Cornwall is a nice place," Riley mentioned in passing as they were in the throes of packing up his apartment to move to Palo Alto, California for his new position as a physicist/ professor at the particle accelerator at Stanford University.

"Cornwall?" Emily asked as she struggled with a box. "Good grief… what on earth is in this box? Leaden balls?"

Riley laughed and swooped in to help her. "Nope… books," he said as he peeked into the box.

"Books… aren't… oomph… this heavy," Emily managed through her grimace.

"Yes, Cornwall. My family went there every summer."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?" Emily asked as she set her end of the box down on the stack of other boxes that were about to be transported to their new house.

"You never asked."

"How long have I known you?"

"You and I didn't know each other when my family and I were still taking the trips. I'm sure there are loads of things you still haven't told me about your past."

"Like the tattoo?" Emily asked.

"Wait… what tattoo?"

"Exactly."

Riley looked at her warily. "You know that the ink isn't great for your body, right?"

"So?"

"Well, that's not healthy… and if you want to keep this regeneration for as long as possible, you shouldn't do stuff like that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… save the lectures for your students," Emily said with a kiss to his cheek.

"So, Cornwall for the wedding?"

"Sure. I'll let Mum know we figured out a location," Emily informed him. "Oh… and maybe I'll let you look for the tattoo later."

She threw him a saucy wink as she started to walk out of the room, leaving Riley to gather up the boxes and transport himself and the boxes to Palo Alto. As he plugged in the coordinates, he started to think that she wasn't kidding about the tattoo.

Two months later, Emily and the Doctor walked down the aisle, passing by friends and family that had all somehow gotten to this time and this place for this one important day. People who were supposedly never coming back were filling the aisles, notably Emily's two mothers; her childhood mother and her adulthood mother were sitting side by side, wiping away tears of joy as Emily tried not to trip over her dress (the same dress River had worn a few months earlier) and tried to keep her balance in her high heels.

River hadn't told Emily the secret of keeping upright in high heeled shoes, and Emily now wished that she had asked. River had only offered her advice in laser pistols while Donna had provided the something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue (old: necklace Sylvia had worn to her wedding; new: a bracelet from Zalomar that matched her ring; borrowed: the veil she'd worn when she married Shaun; blue: a comb with stones from Appares Acwin).

Riley stood by his elder brother and Jack, who was officiating the wedding even though there was a priest who had insisted that he could marry the couple because he questioned the qualifications Jack had to be an ordained minister. Apparently, there had been compromising circumstances surrounding the ordaining process when Jack supposedly got his license. It didn't seem to be making any difference though, because Jack soon began the ceremony, forgoing asking if there were any objections and most of the other "rubbish" (as he called it) of the ceremony.

Everyone was anxious to get the two married so Riley couldn't run off and so that River didn't have to pull out her handcuffs again. (Though, as a joke, she clamped them on Emily and Riley during the reception. They were not amused.)

Not even five days after the wedding, River and Jack's son was born. Colin Boris Song-Harkness. "You couldn't have picked a better name?" Emily asked as she held her younger brother in the hospital.

"She insisted," Jack explained.

"But you had the paperwork… you could have… taken advantage of the situation and given him a better name?"

"Yeah, and awaken the beast," Jack muttered. "Have you not met River Song?"

"But Boris…" Emily murmured.

"Hey, I talked her into letting that be his middle name."

"But it's still a part of his name."

"I don't know what to say Emmy… but you gotta admit, he's cute."

"He's a little stud," Emily crooned. "All the ladies will love him."

River piped in with: "All the ladies already love him. All the nurses have remarked at how cute he is. And don't think your remarks about his name went unheard."

Emily stuck her tongue out at her Mimmy and went back to admiring her brother's dark curls and tiny fingernails.

Three years later, it was River who was admiring dark curls and tiny fingernails when Emily and Riley's first son, David was born. "He's got your eyes, but he's got Riley's nose. And I don't know who's hair he got," River remarked as she gently swayed around the room with her first grandson.

"My turn," Donna said as she took the little boy from River's arms into her own. "He's definitely got your eyes, right down to the brown flecks. Weird."

"And the curls. Don't forget the curls," Riley interjected. "He's got Emmy's curls."

"You had better pray that he doesn't get my personality," Emily remarked as she rested her head against Riley's upper arm. "There's quite enough of that with me."

The Doctor stood in the corner, watching his family move about the room. Little David Bowen had been born into quite the menagerie of species, cultures, eras of time, and backgrounds. He couldn't wait to show his grandson the universe the way that he'd shown each of his companions, right down to his daughter and her husband. "Emmy?" the Doctor asked suddenly.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"What's his full name? I don't think you've said."

She looked at Riley, who looked around the room, looking slightly frazzled. "Um… well, his first name is David, after River's first son… and then James, after Riley's dad, and then… well, this is where things get a little tricky because we can't figure out the order. We figured it be fitting to give him Donna's maiden name, River's maiden name, and then of course, Riley's surname. So, with that hypothetical order, his full name is David James Noble Song Bowen."

"Noble Song?" River and Donna echoed in unison before looking at each other with knowing smiles.

"David James Song Noble Bowen then?" Riley asked.

River shook her head. "No, that sounds weird too. Well… you two are planning on having more, right?"

Emily looked at her quizzically. "I've only just had this one. Can we wait; say a year, before we start talking about more?"

"I understand, but I ask because this can easily be solved with my proposal."

"Which is?" Donna asked.

"You give David one of our maiden names, and the second one will get the name that you didn't use with David."

"Whose name will David get then?" Donna asked, sounding slightly like a petulant child.

"I do like that idea," Riley remarked. "David James Noble Bowen."

Donna's aggressive stance softened and she smiled. "Sounds better than what we were trying to name him originally," Emily added. "The poor kid is still going to have an atrocious amount of names though."

The Doctor laughed. "No more than you though."

Emily glanced up at him. "My anglicized name or my Gallifreyan name?" she asked.

"Both are pretty long. Especially your Gallifreyan name. For intents and purposes though, your anglicized name—Emily Artemis Noble Song Collins Bowen—is a pretty atrocious amount of names."

"I guess it's a good thing I just go by Emily Artemis Bowen now," she replied.

"You got rid of your other names?" River asked in alarm. "But those names were… are important!"

"They're still there, but I don't use them. The married name is much easier to use than those."

Another two and a half years passed, and another son was born. This time, he was born in the cottage by the sea, and Riley had the misfortune of being the only person around who was qualified enough to deliver a baby. (Riley had taken a course in basic first aid a few years back when he was considering becoming a doctor before he decided to settle with being a physicist.) Their second son was named August (because he was born in January) Wilfred Song Bowen.

The third of the trio made her entrance three years after August, this time on the TARDIS, three weeks before her due date. Elizabeth Charlotte Collins Bowen, in the same fashion as her mother, caused her father to sing Stevie Wonder songs during the first few hours of her life. Also like her mother, Elizabeth had her father wrapped around her finger. Unlike either of her brothers though, she was born with vivid red hair and her father's eyes. The Doctor, who had been wearing a fez at the time of Elizabeth's birth, presented his granddaughter with a fez. Granted, it was seventeen sizes too large for her head, but no one took it off of her head immediately after he had put it on. It didn't stay forever… it wouldn't be a fez if it stayed forever; River had waited five minutes before taking the fez off and annihilating the ill-fated hat.

As the Doctor held his granddaughter, he whispered: "We'll get you another one later. When Namma River's not around. And we'll keep the fez away from Grandma Donna too. And great-aunt Amy and great-aunt Martha. And great-uncle Jack and great-uncle Rory. Maybe great-grandma Sylvia won't have a problem with it…"

He glanced around the room at his family. Different species, different walks of life, different backgrounds, and yet, this was his family.

-Fin-

* * *

A/N: That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed!


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